Your Study Abroad Resource to Find Answers, Funding, and Programs

Mentor Advice

Question

Can you give a brief description of your experience in any one or two of the countries you traveled in extensively (Caribbean, Ghana, Ethiopia? Other locations?)

1 Replies from Mentors

  • mentor picture Kenya Casey
     
    Kenya Casey
    Study Abroad Advisor
    Emory University
    While obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Clark Atlanta University, I spent the...
    While obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Clark Atlanta University, I spent the Fall semester of my senior year at the University of Ghana. That experience changed my career trajectory and was instrumental in preparing me for a graduate school program. I learned that psychology was not a widely practiced field in West Africa and that social work was a better fit for my interests in counseling, community development, and research. As an undergraduate, I was interested in doing more individual counseling, but after living in Africa for a semester, I became more interested in working with community members to bring about change. As a result, I enrolled in the Howard University School of Social Work's MSW program. The program did not have an international component, so I created one! The summer between my first and second semesters I spent two months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I volunteered with a non–governmental organization (NGO) that had a holistic approach to community development. That experience taught me a lot about the role government and international organizations play in the allocation of resources for NGOs. I also learned a lot about the sometimes challenging/negative impact volunteers can have on local community members and organizations. It was a wake–up call for me, and the experience made me question my own intentions for wanting to work abroad. After obtaining my MSW, I worked for two years in Kingston, Jamaica as a consultant for an adolescent reproductive health project. My experience in Ethiopia laid the foundation and equipped me with the skills needed to work and conduct research in Jamaica.