Final Reflections and Advice for Future Students

It is our last day here in Botswana and before all the tears began, we asked students to share some of their final reflections and thoughts. Over the past three weeks we as staff have been overjoyed to watch the bonding and personal growth in these students. Hopefully this post shares some more insight into our trip together.

We gave students 8 prompts, and their responses are listed below.

One word to describe your three weeks here…

• Unforgettable
• Life changing
• Incredible
• Supercalifragilisticoespialidoso 
• Wondrous
• Breathtaking
• Eye opening
• Amazing
• Yay :)
• Memorable
• Baddielicious
• Inspiring
• Eye opening

Your favorite animal you saw on this trip…

• Baby Elephants!
• Guinea foul/hippo/wild dogs
• Giraffes/wild dogs/elephants/zebra!
• Wild dogs/zebra/giraffes
• Rhino/giraffes/elephants
• Elephants
• Baby elephants
• Baby elephants
• Guinea fowl
• All of them!
• Elephants!!
• Wild dogs/elephants/rhino
• Rhinos

Something that surprised you…

• “How close we all got and how many friends I made.”
• “How welcoming the people of this country are EVERYWHERE!”
• “Everyone here is really polite and open - they welcomed us with open arms.”
• “How easy it is to adapt to living conditions totally different from my lifestyle. It really was a character development trip.”
• “Everyone here is so nice and welcoming and we all became friends so quickly!”
• “How sweet everyone here is.”
• “Nice people and beautiful animals.”
• “The animals.”
• “How amazing and sweet each person on this trip was.”
• “How we bonded as a group and how inviting everyone is!”

One thing you wish you packed…

• Another pair of slippers
• Ovajel
• More sweatshirts
• More fancy/cute outfits
• Sweatshirts, cold medicine
• More warm clothes
• More fluffy socks and snacks
• More warm clothes!!!
• Eyedrops
• Binoculars
• A jacket
• More layers
• A hat and gloves

One thing you wish you hadn’t packed…

• My jean jacket
• One less pair of shoes
• A white pair of shoes
• 4 dresses
• Two fleeces (only needed one tbh)
• Too many short sleeve shirts
• Too many shorts
• An extra notebook
• A pair of shoes
• Nice sneakers
• Extra soap
• Too many clothes I didn’t wear
• The excessive rain gear I brought

Something that you would have done differently…

• “I wish I had been on time.”
• “I would start my project sooner.”
• “Work on the project more.”
• “I would be less shy at first and not time crunch the project.”
• “Not waste my money on useless items I ended up not using.”
• “Start the project sooner.”
• “Pack better clothes.”
• “Downloaded more media (TV and movies) for the trip.”
• “I wish I talked to more people.”
• “Be more inviting.”
• “Talk to everyone on the first day.”

One piece of advice for future students…

• “Bring lots of warm clothes. Also, be the first to shower because the water gets cold really fast with 14 girls sharing the bathroom.”
• “Shower first! Also it goes from being really cold at night to hot during the day.”
• “START YOUR PROJECT SOONER!!”
• “Bring lots of layers and warm clothes.”
• “Let yourself open up to this experience and opportunity.”
• “Shower first, bring good and warm outfits, try everything, be open, have fun!”
• “Go into everything with a positive and open attitude! Embrace every moment!!”
• “Jump into this with a bright mindset and be open. Treasure the moments because they’ll be over soon. The wifi is spotty and be sure to claim your shower.”
• “Bring warm clothing, like very warm. It can get to be in the 30s and 40s early in the morning and at night.”
• “Do everything.”
• “Be ready for anything.”
• “Always try everything you can and push yourself out of your comfort zone! It will make the experience so much better!”
• “Start your project sooner, and put yourself out there.”

One moment/event/experience that made you view things through a cultural lens…

• “Visiting the SOS village”
• “Visiting the village: eating elephant and seeing the guy use recycled tire for his home”
• “Eating elephant meat super casually and seeing it hang from tree branches.”
• “When we visited the children’s village and played with them.”
• “When we visited the orphanage.”
• “Visiting the schools and the SOS village.”
• “Visiting schools.”
• “Visiting the SOS village.”
• “Visiting the people <3.”
• “Visiting my homestay family.”
• “Spending the day with our host family and seeing a football game and wedding!”
• “Spending time with my host family and spending time with everyone here.”