Hi, my name is Siobhan McDermott and I am in my final year at the University of Guelph. The program that I am currently in is: Bachelor of Arts – Sociology and International Development. I am very happy to be finished school this April, and I look forward to the next challenge life will bring. If you are reading this then you probably know that during the month of May
 I will be traveling with WUSC and the Guelph Global Learners Program to Botswana. Honestly, I don’t think it is possible to explain in words how much this opportunity means to me. I am getting the chance to go somewhere that I otherwise could not have gone, and to do something I could never have done otherwise. I am so thankful to be a part of this team.

It is absolutely incredible that I get to visit some of the places that, until now were only pages in a book or documentaries that were viewed in class. I get to put real faces, feelings and memories to those distant ‘case studies’ that we have learnt about. I am so blessed to see first-hand how other people in this world live. I am excited to step out of my comfort zone, alter my mindset, and to open my eyes a little (or a lot) wider.

I am certain that I will be challenged, and I will see things that shock me, scare me, and make me laugh or make me cry. Overall, these are things that I know will change me, and for that, I am so grateful. Learning and constantly revising your perspective is one of the greatest adventures of life. To learn from everything and everyone you come into contact with; to find meaning and importance in life’s possibilities, variety and quirks.

And for all this – I guess I am as ready as I can be.