Hello! My name is
Jessica Stargardter. I have been looking forward to studying abroad for as long
as I can remember. When I got that email at one in the morning I was more than
just overjoyed. I was relieved that I would finally get the opportunity that I
never thought I would have, I was anxious and wanted to start packing almost
immediately, and I was most overwhelmingly happy. I still don’t think I have
stopped smiling since I opened that email.
I am currently a
sophomore and a pre-teaching major, hoping to be accepted into the Neag School
of Education. I am also attempting to receive a leadership minor and an Urban
and Community Studies minor, but we will see how much time I have for that.
While I am excited about every single aspect of living in Cape Town, South
Africa, I think I am most excited about being able to work with the local
children. Education has always been a fascinating topic to me and I am very
interested in learning about the differences between the public school system I
was raised in and the one I will soon teach in.
My dream job is to
travel around the world analyzing and helping to improve different schools in
various kinds of geographic locations, socio-economic classes and cultural
diversities. The experience that I will have in South Africa will be the
perfect stepping stone and an amazing beginning to my future career path.
When I called my
grandma the other day to tell her the news the first thing she said to me was,
“Is there any room in your suitcase for me?” My family is taking the news
surprisingly well and they are all being very supportive. I chose South Africa
because I wanted to go somewhere where I could be put out of my comfort zone. I
wanted to go to a completely different culture and lifestyle. My parents’
apprehension dissipated as soon as they saw that there was no way they could
convince me to go somewhere “safer”. Now that I am officially
accepted, I think about it all the time, I talk about it all the time, I cannot
wait!
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