Thoughts of the little island of Zanzibar often evoke images of long stretches of untainted white sand beaches and light blue waters. Not to mention blazing orange sunsets, fresh seafood cooked in East African spices, and cold beers on the beach. Hailed alongside the likes of some of the most beautiful destinations in the world, like the Maldives, Zanzibar is a renowned world destination and a beach-lover's paradise.

During a study and intern semester abroad, meeting new people will be unavoidable. Going to a different part of the world in more than just a tourist capacity will enable you to really learn what it’s like to live in another country- and that means making some personal connections along the way as well.

Kampala is a bustling city of never ending movement. At first, traffic hour in Kampala can seem like an chaotic swirl of people, cars, and motorcycles. But the more acquainted you get with the roads of Kampala, the more you will be able to see the harmonious pattern to the traffic here, reavealing a paradoxical system of organized chaos.   

The steps towards planning a study abroad trip can seem fairly straightforward at first: getting documents ready, packing, buying plane tickets, and all that seemingly-easy-yet-horribly-stressful stuff.

You’ve waited in anticipation, and now you’ve finally heard back that you’ve been accepted into that semester abroad program you’ve been wanting so bad. Congratulations!

Often it may seem like just landing an international internship is the hardest part of the job done. From there, surely it will be smooth sailing into a fulfilling internship that meets all of your expectations… right?

As a university student it’s easy to fall into routines. Sometimes, it can feel like your life is a cycle of studying, exams, and lectures. So, naturally, when the prospect of volunteering abroad presents itself as an opportunity, jumping right into any oversea volunteer position can become a sort of knee-jerk reaction.

 Alright, so you’ve landed that dream internship abroad that you’ve been wanting for ages. You’ve told all your friends, family, and strangers sitting next to you on the bus. That initial excitement is starting to wear off, and is slowly being replaced by a slight panic. Now what?

‘When you travel away from a place where you have spent many years of your life, you leave behind a negative space, an empty contour of the person who left. When you return from your travels, you expect- and are expected- to occupy that same space again, but it never quite fits you, because you’ve changed. It’s not only uncomfortable for you but mildly disconcerting to those who know you well.’

As a student of international development, you are are exposed to a wealth of knowledge on the topics of world issues, poverty, aid, and the global political economy. But reading heavily-worded academic papers night after night can be a burden, and all too often you find your eyes burning into the same line for 15 minutes straight without actually intaking any information. These nights often end with you falling asleep at your desk and drooling all over that 30-page peer-reviewed paper.