I'm Going to South Africa!
Howzit! Welcome to my South Africa blog. I'll be recording my adventures in Cape Town over the next few months here, mostly for my own sake, but feel free to follow along!
Cape Town has been number 1 on my list of places to visit ever since 2011, when I wrote a report on Nelson Mandela for my sophomore year history class. For the assignment we had to research a historical figure, and write about how they did or did not fulfill Saint Ignatius' "Grad at Grad" requirements (according to their mission statement, an SI grad should be open to growth, intellectually competent, loving, religious, committed to justice, and a man or woman with and for others). Mandela clearly fit most if not all of these requirements, and I loved reading about his life and his role in a critical period of South African, and world history. I'll upload my research paper on Mandela in a future post.
In addition, during my Junior Year at Yale I took a class with Daniel Magaziner called "History of South Africa." Despite taking it Credit/D/Fail (and therefore not doing most of the readings), I felt like I got a lot out of the lectures, and came away with a much better understanding of the tumultuous history of the country. My only criticism was that Magaziner seemed to show a very one-sided view of South Africa, and while apartheid was obviously a horrendous institution, I think it would be interesting to read about Malan, Verwoerd, Botha, and De Klerk, the National Party leaders during the apartheid era.
Anyway, aside from the history of the country, South Africa, and Cape Town in particular look beautiful in the photos, and I am so excited to see the beaches, Table Mountain, Green Point Stadium, etc. in person!
I didn't think this trip would happen so soon, but when I came accross the iXperience program, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. iXperience is an educational program founded just a few years ago by a fellow Yale grad named Aaron Fuchs. The idea is to fill the gap between what you learn in school and the skills you need in the real world. According to their website, I, along with ~250 other students, will "take immersive classes on high-demand skills that aren't often taught well—or at all—at university. Then, you'll drive real-world impact at an internship with a local company. All this, while discovering the most beautiful city in the world." I'll be taking the Product Management course for the first month, and then interning at a local startup for another month. PM seems like an awesome position that fits my interest in the intersection of business and computer science perfectly, and I am excited to learn more about it. iXperience also sets up weekly excursions for us to really experience different cultural and fun sides of the country.
Anyway, that's enough for now, but I'll be posting more from Cape Town!
Cape Town has been number 1 on my list of places to visit ever since 2011, when I wrote a report on Nelson Mandela for my sophomore year history class. For the assignment we had to research a historical figure, and write about how they did or did not fulfill Saint Ignatius' "Grad at Grad" requirements (according to their mission statement, an SI grad should be open to growth, intellectually competent, loving, religious, committed to justice, and a man or woman with and for others). Mandela clearly fit most if not all of these requirements, and I loved reading about his life and his role in a critical period of South African, and world history. I'll upload my research paper on Mandela in a future post.
In addition, during my Junior Year at Yale I took a class with Daniel Magaziner called "History of South Africa." Despite taking it Credit/D/Fail (and therefore not doing most of the readings), I felt like I got a lot out of the lectures, and came away with a much better understanding of the tumultuous history of the country. My only criticism was that Magaziner seemed to show a very one-sided view of South Africa, and while apartheid was obviously a horrendous institution, I think it would be interesting to read about Malan, Verwoerd, Botha, and De Klerk, the National Party leaders during the apartheid era.
Anyway, aside from the history of the country, South Africa, and Cape Town in particular look beautiful in the photos, and I am so excited to see the beaches, Table Mountain, Green Point Stadium, etc. in person!
I didn't think this trip would happen so soon, but when I came accross the iXperience program, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. iXperience is an educational program founded just a few years ago by a fellow Yale grad named Aaron Fuchs. The idea is to fill the gap between what you learn in school and the skills you need in the real world. According to their website, I, along with ~250 other students, will "take immersive classes on high-demand skills that aren't often taught well—or at all—at university. Then, you'll drive real-world impact at an internship with a local company. All this, while discovering the most beautiful city in the world." I'll be taking the Product Management course for the first month, and then interning at a local startup for another month. PM seems like an awesome position that fits my interest in the intersection of business and computer science perfectly, and I am excited to learn more about it. iXperience also sets up weekly excursions for us to really experience different cultural and fun sides of the country.
Anyway, that's enough for now, but I'll be posting more from Cape Town!
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