While most students spent their summers relaxing, working or volunteering at home, a few Auburn students got the chance to travel to different parts of the country or world and experience new things.
Taylor Wesley, junior in communication, went with a group called Global Lead to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.
Wesley said she was drawn to the trip because of its adventurous nature, along with the classes’ focus on leadership and service.
“One course was very self-reflective and taught us how to be leaders on campus and in the working world,” Wesley said. “The other class focused on how to be a mindful traveler and how to reach different groups of people. My major is communications, so learning how to market to different groups was really cool.”
Wesley said the best in-class activity was the creation of a “vision statement.”
“I was able to write down on paper what I want my future to look like and what impact I want to have with my leadership abilities,” Wesley said. “We each thought of something we wanted to bring back to our universities and gave each other feedback, which was really cool.”
Outside of class, Wesley’s group experienced some of the local tourist attractions.
“I got to see Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held captive,” Wesley said. “We also go to visit the Cape of Good Hope, which was really beautiful.”
Wesley said she had multiple encounters with the local wildlife, including baboons, penguins, elephants, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs and lions.
“Seeing the animals was really cool because I had never seen any of them in the wild before,” Wesley said.
Wesley also participated in many activities in the area, including skydiving, surfing, cage diving with sharks, bungee jumping and hiking and repelling on Table Mountain.
Wesley said she was nervous before some of the activities but is glad that she did them.
“I would have never signed up for most of the activities if I was just alone in Africa,” Wesley said. “The program encouraged you to step out of your comfort zone, which is huge as far as leadership.”
The group also got an opportunity to do service activities during their time in South Africa.
“We put on a day camp for the kids at a local school,” Wesley said. “We would play with the kids and in the afternoon, we were each assigned a family and we spent a week with them. It was really cool getting to form relationships with the family, getting to know them on a personal level and learning about their lifestyle.”
Wesley said the trip was a “celebration of life” and something she will never forget.
“Getting to appreciate God’s creation and experience a different culture like I never had before was a huge blessing,” Wesley said.
Just a few miles north of Cape Town, Erica Hadaway, sophomore in social work, and Tyler Nesselrotte, junior in spent a month in Swaziland, Africa, on a mission trip with an organization called Children’s Cup, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid and spiritual guidance.
Hadaway and Nesselrotte spent five days a week at Children’s Cup’s care points, stations placed all around rural African areas that provide food, water, medical attention and educational materials to locals.
The trip was designed as a missionary internship, where students can experience mission work and decide if it is a career they want to pursue long-term, according to Hadaway.
Hadaway said the majority of the people at the care points were young children, but the ages varied.
“My heart is definitely with young children, and we got to spend a lot of time with them at the care points,” Hadaway said, “but we also got to spend time with young adults and mentor them. It was a good mix of [ages].”
Nesselrotte said the group had experiences that gave her a new outlook on life at home.
“We went on a couple of home visits and gave them baskets that had things that as Americans, we take for granted, like sugar, flour, beans and soap," Nesselrotte said. "It was unique to be able to go into the communities and do that.”
Hadaway said a trip to a local hospital as the experience that stood out to her.
“Swaziland is actually the number one place for HIV and AIDS in the world,” Hadaway said. “Getting to see the hospital atmosphere, it’s pretty bad. The beds are all lined up next to each other, the walls are basically falling apart, the kids have to hold their IV bags, it’s just a scary sight to see. They just look like they have no hope, so getting to go in there and try to give them hope was a huge blessing. It wrecked my world.”
Hadaway and Nesselrotte said they brought back many memories and lessons learned from the trip, but a few stood out above the rest.
Nesselrotte said most Africans tend to be more focused on other people, as opposed to people in the United States and other parts of the world who often are caught up in a busy lifestyle.
“I learned to take my time in relationships and be a little bit more intentional with people,” Nesselrotte said. “In Swaziland they are really intentional with their friendships with their neighbors. Even strangers, they’ll take time to talk to you … Instead of just getting from point A to point B, [I learned] to enjoy the trip in between.”
Hadaway said she learned the importance of love by dealing with the children.
“We, as Christians, are called to love unconditionally, wherever we’re at,” Hadaway said. “Whether you’re called to full-time missions or life in America, it’s important to love others. There are so many easy and practical ways to show love.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
