The author is a graduate of Shenendahowa High School who lives in Clifton Park. She will be writing more articles about her semester at sea. Look for them in upcoming issues of The Spotlight.
I was about to go into my second year of school at a local community college when a poster caught my eye. It was a picture of a ship on the ocean with the words Study Abroad With a Semester At Sea printed across it in bold letters. I took down the Web site information, and within a week I found myself looking up the information.
I learned that it’s a college campus on a ship that can house up to 700 students from all over the world. At each port there are opportunities to go and see each country on the itinerary, although participants travel at their own expense. In South Africa, you can travel to the top of Table Mountain, go on a safari or learn more about the history of the area by visiting Robben Island and District Six. At almost every port there’s an opportunity to go on a service visit, which is staying at a college or a house to see how people in that community live and learn new customs and traditions.
Students sleep in cabins, two to four to a room. On one of the decks there are eight classrooms.
Many classes only have two exams ` a midterm and a final. The rest of the grade is based on journal entries written while at port since there are only classes while you are sailing. On the ship, students are mandated to take 12 to 15 credits, including a global studies coarse that introduces the ideas and customs of the next destination on the itinerary. The ship offers many different courses, including business, music and religion.
People of any age, or `lifelong learners,` travel with the students and can sit in on classes and participate in the field programs. For lifelong learners, it’s the opportunity to see the world and work with many different agencies like the YMCA and Habitat for Humanity at each port we visit.
The more I read about the Semester At Sea, the more I got anxious to see if I would get accepted into the program. In February 2009, I received a letter in the mail stating I have been accepted into the International Shipboard Education program, as long as I was accepted into a university. This was the beginning of a very long process. I applied to the University at Albany and to the University at Binghamton. Right away I heard that I was accepted at Albany, but I focused my energy on hearing from Binghamton. After numerous calls and e-mails, as well as handing in three references, two essays and a resume, I received a letter in the mail saying I was withdrawn from the admission process.
Next I focused on trying to get a loan, but SUNY Albany wouldn’t let me take out a loan because I was not seen as a student since I have not taken any classes there. At this point in the process, my mom was getting very frustrated.
In order to get the information I needed, I had to call Semester At Sea representatives, and they were so easy to get a hold of and so willing to help. I finally got a loan through the University of Virginia, which sponsors the Semester At Sea. I also got a scholarship from Hudson Valley Community College and a $4,000 grant from the University of Virginia.
Next it was time to focus on getting the shots and medication I needed in order to travel to some of the destinations on the itinerary. I had to pay more than $100 for a yellow fever vaccination and around $80 for malaria pills to take while I’m at sea. This was the easiest part of the process besides getting my teachers to write recommendations for me.
Now, it is just two weeks before I set sail on a 109-day voyage around the world to 11 different countries in 14 different ports. I will be majoring in anthropology with the hopes of one day becoming a humanitarian worker to help the hungry and sick around the world. I knew if I did not take this opportunity now, I might never have the chance to ever again. My family has been such a big help in this process. I am the youngest of four girls and my sister who lives the farthest away is still only 10 miles from home.
My family will be driving me 13 hours to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I will board the MV Explorer to live with 721 other students.
Once we leave Halifax on Aug. 28, we will be on our way to Cadiz, Spain, where I am already scheduled to go for a city orientation followed by taking the white town route from Arcos de la Frontera through Ronda following the Tajo River. The next day I will be visiting Seville, learning about its history in religion and architecture.
After Spain we will travel to Casablanca, Morocco, where I will also go to a city orientation, with the following days spent at a service visit to learn about the SOS Children’s village. Then off to learn about Rabat, a 1,000-year-old town. On the last day in Morocco, I will spend an evening with a Moroccan family.
The next couple of destinations I will be choosing field programs while I am on the ship porting in Accra Ghana, Cape Town, South Africa, where I hope to learn more about apartheid and the history of Robben Island. Then it’s off to Port Louis in Mauritius (which is in the middle of the Indian Ocean); Chennai, India; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and two destinations in China porting in Hong Kong and Shanghai. After China, we visit Yokohama and Kobe, Japan, where I will be spending the night with a host family in Kobe and participate in the daily routines.After Japan we will traveling to a couple of U.S destinations in Honolulu and Hilo, Hawaii, with our departure destination in San Diego on Dec. 14.
Even though the application process was hard and took up most of my time during the last semester at school, I still would do it again knowing in a short couple of weeks I will be seeing those places that many only dream of visiting. In the middle of my voyage I will be writing another article that will focus on the people and cultures I will be introduced to.“