Vanessa Braun- University of Pittsburgh

Hello my name is Vanessa Braun.  I studied abroad for 25 day period and we traveled around South Africa .  We began our trip in Johannesburg and ended up in Cape Town and throughout our travels we saw the very rich and the very poor rural and urban areas.  We there were 13 of us on the trip we were all students from Allegheny college and we studied with two psychology professor one of whom is originally from South Africa .  I’ve always wanted to study abroad and didn’t that id have time to fit it in my schedule while I was in college I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and co-curricular activities.  However, after a summer internship in the office of experiential learning I realized that I could take part in one of the study abroad experiences that the professor ran in the summer I therefore contacted one of my psychology professors and who was leading the trip to south Africa and he was excited about my potential participation in the study abroad experience.

Interview Transcript

What was your family’s response to you studying abroad?  The first person that I told I was studying abroad was my mom and before I informed her that I would like to study abroad in South Africa , I did a lot of investigation.  I spoke to the office of experiential learning and I spoke to my professor.  I got as much information as I could so when I told her about it I was so excited that she was willing to hear and she saw it as a positive possibility because I did a lot of homework beforehand.  What is your most memorable experience when abroad? I think that one of the  most memorable things that happened when I was abroad was when we toured Robin island we took a boat to the islands off the coast of south Africa and for anyone that doesn’t know Robin island is where nelson Mandela and many other prisoners were held when apartheid was in effect in south Africa.  We were able to view nelson Mandela’s cell and a tour was given to us by a former prisoner who did not hold any resentment toward the people who held him on the islands.  He worked along side of the some of the same men that held him captive and he had a great outlook on life and really became an inspiration to many of us in the group that was studying abroad.  What kinds of accommodations did you receive? It gave me many of the reading materials that we covered throughout our experience before we went so I did those ahead of time and the paper for the trip was not due until the end of the summer so I had time to work on it after returning from south Africa . We also did a presentation which had been prepared beforehand the only true accommodation that I requested was a guide to act as my own personal tour guide throughout the experience.  The dean of students office at the college offered to pay the 1000 dollars it costs for this guide to accompany us.  My professor and I discussed the possibility of a guide accompanying us for my benefit on the trip.  If we would have remained in once place throughout the trip it would not have been necessary however we traveled through many different terrains we were in the wilderness and large cities so it was beneficial for me to have this extra person.  My roommate Courtney also was very helpful to me.  She was my roommate throughout our stay in South Africa and we only stayed in one place for no more than 3 nights at a time.  Most of our stays were only one night so she helped me acclimate to the room setup the bathroom, where we could put our toothbrushes things like that. As far as the assistive technology goes although I didn’t utilize any besides the handheld tape recorder that I used for a journal I know that programs like JAWS which is a screen reading software open book or curse while is a scanning software is available to students studying abroad.  They can either use it in their host country or Lynette Van Slyke from the University of Pittsburgh has informed me that they have scanned books in before students even travel abroad.  From my conversations with Lynette Van Slyke from the disability resource and services at the University of Pittsburgh , she has informed me that they have been able to scan books in using Open Book or Curse while for students with either dyslexia or visual impairments to study abroad.  That would be good for Pitt students abroad. Do you think it was as easy to rely on people abroad the same way you do in the US ? I think you should be as independent as you are comfortable with but it’s not a weakness to ask someone for help or to express your need some type of accommodation. How did your school prepare you for this experience? I worked with the disability office on campus to procure the funding that we needed and I spoke with the dean of students I actually had a meeting before I traveled abroad and talked about the fact that my professor thought it would be a benefit for me to have my own tour guide accompanying the group. Were you treated differently by the people of your host country? For the most part I didn’t think so the people of the country seemed interested in me and how I did things but for the most part I was treated like just another member of the American group.  I didn’t feel that there was any difference between how I was treated and how the members of the group were treated while we were there.  Mainly the people were interested in how I did things.  Some of the people in the country spoke to my friends or around me at first but once I engaged in dialogue with them they asked me questions directly.  Do you plan to study abroad in the future? I absolutely would study abroad again.  In fact, this past March, my mother and I traveled to France to visit my sister who was studying abroad for the semester in the south of France .  I think that any chance that people have to study abroad and experience more of the world cultures is a benefit to them and I would love to travel abroad again.  What would you tell other with disabilities? I would tell them to mainly be flexible and keep an open mind be willing to communicate and talk with both members of your college before you go abroad as well as the people on site who are willing to help you.  Most individuals are curious or not aware of how you accomplish things and if you’re willing to share with them your experiences and your way of success then I think studying abroad is for anyone.  I would tell students to do their homework before they studied abroad before they get abroad and into an experience that they should know what’s coming and know as much as they can before hand and just be flexible and be patient with people.  People want to help you and if you don’t need the help you just need to be able to communicate that to them.  I feel that students need to do their homework before studying abroad and to have a grasp on where they are going what they are doing where they are living.  Its important to know as much information as you can before you study abroad and be willing to visit with your offices; the study abroad office, the disability resource office its important for students with disabilities that study abroad is open to them if they are willing to get out there and do the leg work before traveling abroad. What are some of the challenges and rewards of a study abroad experience? You get a new perspective on the world.  I think my favorite experiences from our time in south Africa is when we worked with some Zulu children at a school.  We bought them board games and instead of the American way of children playing a board game where they are out to win and beat one another these children instead saw the games as a chance for community and they cheered when anyone reached the end.  Some of the biggest challenges while studying abroad are accessibility you need to plan ahead before you travel abroad.  In my experience I’ve never traveled abroad with a guide dog but if were to travel to western Europe with Randal I would have to look into the paperwork beforehand and talk with the American side as well as foreign embassies to look into the best way to bring him into other countries so there are not any snags along the way.  What are your career goals and do you feel that study abroad has changed them? Studying aboard affected me in many ways, mainly it made me more open minded to the world and the world’s people.  My career goals are to work in student affairs ideally eventually I would like to direct a leadership development program for students and I think that study abroad impacted this in that I feel that all students should study abroad some point in their college experience whether it be for a semester which my sister did or just a few weeks in the summer being abroad gives you a new perspective on life and impacts you as a leader and a person and as a community member of the world.