I’m glad that I have the circumstances to see my college experience as a learning/questioning/challenging experience, and not just a long ladder-climbing process to get a degree. This has been possible mostly because of the support I’ve received from generous scholarship donors at Henry Ford Community College and also at Wayne State. I feel like the world is open to me, and without the pressure of debt, I am much freer to explore it before pursuing my higher education or entering the workforce. I wish that this was true for all U.S. students.

I was inspired by my Mozambican peers who were pursuing philosophy and social science degrees in a shaky job market and country of underemployment. They left me with much to think about.

I have a feeling that I’ll be back in Africa. It’s only a matter of time. My travels have changed me a lot already, so I believe you that this is what I have to look forward to. This is the education I haven’t received from textbooks, and as you put it, is touching my soul, my heart and my mind in foundational ways. The more different and diverse ways of existing that I experience, the harder it is to establish a standard of “normal” or know exactly where I am in the mosaic..

Hannah

PS: Was that an invitation to apply to the Botswana course? You aren’t sick of me yet???

I hope you continue to explore Africa, either, through the follow up to this course,or, independently. There is much in Africa to challenge the mind, the soul, and the heart. I think you are discovering a lot of it. It will change you and that is, too, what education is all about.

I wish you the very best!

Irv Reid