Ken proud to have been selected

Hello readers, my name is Kenneth Klemens and I am currently a first semester Junior at UConn. I am a Journalism and English major and considering the amount of work that that involves this semester abroad in Cape Town could not have come at a better time in my academic career. I am ecstatic about this trip, since my freshman or early sophomore year I have wanted to go and the fact that I am now going is an actual dream come true. I am proud that I have been selected, it is a good feeling to have something like this pan out the way you wanted, when at first it seemed like such a far off dream. 

I grew up in West Islip, NY, this little town on Long Island and throughout my entire life I think I have spent more time on or in the water than on land. I love the ocean, I love to sail, surf, fish, dive, everything. There has always been something about being out of my element (i.e. Underwater) that excited me and kept me coming back, and this is one of the main reasons that I chose Cape Town. 

Cape Town has always been a locale of intrigue for me. Africa, this continent that I so naively assumed was all third-world, had this little city on the southern tip that was actually not a little city at all but rather a bustling hub of culture, and a few years ago this is what initially got me interested. I always said to myself “that would be a cool place to visit” and sort of kept it in the back of my mind. Than I realized that South Africa has some of the best waves in the world. As an avid surfer this only doubled my interest in visiting the country. Also, watching discovery channel allowed me to realize that South Africa also has one of the most diverse marine life populations in the world, and this piqued my interest even more. Upon further research and upon hearing the opinions of many people that have visited including some of the UConn students at the Cape Town symposium, I realized that Cape Town was an entirely unique place who’s culture and pace was found nowhere else in the world.  The idea that I could spend some time there, as a complete minority, completely out of my element, became a very alluring aspect of the country. The idea of working an internship rather than just being a student there sold me on the program, I wanted in. Once I began applying to the program I began to think of all the ways that I could possibly benefit the country and it’s people, and how the country and it’s people could benefit me and after thinking of that, finishing the application was a surprisingly easy process. I cannot wait to get on that plane with my fellow Study-abroad-mates and to experience this country in all ways possible.