4/4/05
So as you all may know, I was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona. I am a 20-year-old junior at Arizona State University studying Justice and Social Inquiry, a major my mom suggested. I begrudgingly took one class in the subject and I fell in love. My sister, Brooke, is 4 years older than me, and also my roomie for the next year, here in our cozy little condo in Mesa.
So why South Africa?
Well, when I think of studying abroad, I think of increasing my learning, expanding myself socially as well as emotionally, and gaining knowledge I can use in my future career. South Africa, besides being already being a wildly intriguing landscape and country within a giant continent, has the most to offer. The post-apartheid community is ground zero for non-violent revolution and the poster child for the both the human rights movements in country in which incredible injustices were a reality.
I want to learn about history of this country and experience its present for myself.
I’m so close to graduating I can taste it, after that … well, graduate school. I love this stuff. For now, I’m coaching a girls softball team for the city of Tempe. The Rockies are going to be undefeated, I can feel it in my bones! Seriously, the ability to impact these girls’ lives as a coach is a wonderful feeling. I feel like a grown-up. That part is a little frightening.
We’ll see what happens to me over the course of this journey, as I like to call it. It isn’t just a “trip,” its a voyage of sorts. I know it is impossible to live in Khayelitsha, the township in which I will live and intern, where we will intern, and come back unchanged even in some small way. I fear complete separation from American culture when I return, and the corresponding social discomfort that correlates with that. I want nothing more than to grow and to change the world around me. I am determined to return with knowledge and optimism.
This is my journey. My exploration of humanity, of culture, and and of peace. This is Me, Brianna Kathleen Wilkins.
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