Loring:
My time at Michaelhouse was truly a life-changing experience. At first, I was nervous, but upon arrival at the school, I was welcomed with open arms and immediately felt at home. Everyone wanted to spend time with “The Americans.” I have met so many exchange students who have come to MBA, but actually going on exchange exceeded my expectations. Everyone was so nice and wanted to learn about what life is like in the US. The school was a brick castle. Every building was connected with a series of square courtyards. It took a week before I knew my way around the campus. Another amazing aspect of the school was the bordering reserve. Finally, playing rugby was incredible. During the first practice, Seth and I would walk to the reserve and fly fish in the ponds. We had the option of camping with a group, but it fell through. My favorite experiences outside of Michaelhouse were the exchange student travel days. We went on safaris, shark diving, and cultural trips into the mountains. Seeing such incredible species up close was eye-opening. National Geographic is one thing, but seeing a Black Rhino at five yards was like nothing I had ever experienced. We learned about poaching in the reserve and how the poachers use dogs to hunt animals. We did a fence walk and found holes where dogs travel and saw spots where snares were set in the past. However, these experiences do not compare to the friends Seth and I made. We were invited all over the country, but sadly had to decline most of the offers due to time constraints. But we jumped at the opportunity to hunt with a family on their personal reserve. I was allowed to harvest a beautiful blesbok. The meat was donated to the local village, and no part of the animal was wasted. In conclusion, my experience was exceptional, and I look forward to keeping in touch with the friends I made while in South Africa.
Seth:
My trip to the Michaelhouse School in South Africa was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I will be forever glad that I was chosen to go. Living in the boarding school itself was an experience, and I had never met so many people in my life in such a short span. Every night, I had a constant flow of classmates coming in and out of my room to talk to the American. Safe to say I did not get much sleep because they kept me up so late. Michaelhouse also treated us, exchange students, well. They took us on a series of trips, including shark diving, Durban, Safari, and the Drakensberg mountains. On these trips, we met other exchange students from India, Australia, and Scotland. At the boarding school itself, I met people from all over Africa. Meeting all these people from literally all over the world allowed me to create connections and friendships that will last a lifetime. Rugby games were awesome. We went to quite a few Michaelhouse rugby games where we participated in the student section and cheered on the first team. I also got the chance to learn how to play rugby, and played in a game, which is something I thought I would never do. Michaelhouse also had an on-campus animal reserve, where we could go hiking, fishing, and see animals like zebras. On our Safari, we saw a series of animals, including the cheetah, elephant, wildebeest, and lions. My favorite experience was my hunting trip. My exchange partner and I went hunting with one of the Michaelhouse students' families. There, I shot a Blesbok and Red Hartebeest and met native South African Hunting guides. The community received the meat from the animals I killed to help solve the issues of poverty and hunger. All in all, I made connections across the world and got to go through such cool experiences that I would never find anywhere else.
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