Botswana: University Immersion in Southern Africa testimonials
The ACM Botswana program introduced me to challenges I could never have imagined facing while living in the United States. However, it was the challenges of living each day in Botswana that allowed me to become more confident and self-aware. I walked away from my experience with a greater appreciation for my own culture, as well as an appreciation for the culture of the Motswana I interacted with each day. Going to Botswana was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. The friends I made and the memories I created will carry with me for the rest of my life.
—Katie Nicholson, Botswana, Spring 2011
Participating in the ACM Botswana semester abroad gave me so many opportunities I would not have had otherwise. Botswana was a great place for me to spend five months of my life, in which I learned a great deal and had amazing experiences that I wouldn't have been able to have at my home university. I was able to study and do research at an African university, live with a student from Botswana, learn about an entirely new culture, volunteer at a microfinance institution, travel to extraordinary places all over Southern Africa, and forge great friendships with ACM students, as well as local Batswana students.
—Molly Adams, Botswana, Spring 2011
I chose the ACM Botswana program because I wanted to study in an industrializing country, and get outside my "comfort zone". As it turns out, Botswana is a really comfortable place to be! It's a very peaceful country, and people there are very friendly. Botswana is rapidly acquiring the western socioeconomic system spread through globalization. Many people in Gaborone speak English, eat spaghetti, wear jeans, and stay current on international news events. Rural areas are less "globalized," and there is much to learn from people there, too. Botswana also has some of the most fantastic wildlife in the world, with the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, the Nxai Salt Pans, and the Okavango Delta as just a few must-visit destinations.
—Will Gallmeyer, Botswana, Spring 2008
Studying abroad through the ACM Botswana program was a perfect blend of exciting cultural learning and personal growth. Although the program is centered around the University, I gained many invaluable experiences outside the classroom. Forging friendships with Batswana and ACM students alike, traveling throughout sub-Saharan Africa, volunteering with a Pediatric AIDS clinic, and completing an auto-ethnographic research project all challenged me to become more confident, patient, flexible and understanding. Lessons learned and experiences had in Botswana will forever positively influence my future endeavors.
—Rebekah Bally, Botswana, Spring 2011
The ACM Botswana program presented me with an array of experiences which, from the phenomenal to the mundane, challenged my understanding of development, Africa, people, and myself. I appreciated equally opportunities to meet current and former presidents and listen to federal budget presentations and the opportunities to ride khombis and to work side by side with Batswana women discussing and laughing about clients and husbands in mixed English and Setswana. I alternately cherished and struggled with the slow pace of life, the subtle, roundabout conversations, and the overwhelming heat, but through these transformations confronted serious questions about research, international development, my involvement in different communities, the political and social systems of my own country, and the intricacies of friendship. It was an extraordinary journey.
—Laura Eberly, Botswana, Spring 2008