Kaitlyn's certain this program matches her interests & academic pursuits

Hi everyone! My name is Kaitlyn Luft and I am a sophomore here at UConn. I just officially switched my major from being undecided in the ACES Exploratory Program into Allied Health Sciences. I will also hopefully be double minoring in Biology and Psychology. I am thinking of being an Occupational Therapist, a Nurse, or a Physician’s Assistant (although all very different, I know). 

When my sister went to Cape Town with UConn in 2014, I was still in high school and pretty unaware of the capacity of the work she was doing and where she was living while abroad. It sounded so cool to me, but also so far off and irrelevant to my life. Once actually at UConn, I knew that I would do whatever it took to study abroad at some point in my college career; it was just a matter of when. After talking to previous participants of various study abroad programs, my sister (more times than I can count), and attending information sessions, there was no doubt in my mind that Cape Town was the right fit for me. I was still deciding between Italy and Cape Town towards the end, but the Cape Town symposium made all my uncertainties vanish. I felt so at home when hearing about past experiences and that’s when I knew. The internship, activist project, classes, people, and culture all match my interests and academic pursuits. The past participants were SO passionate talking about everything that they accomplished and were exposed to while there and it made me want hop on a plane right away. It was so evident how close they all became while abroad and the incredible ways each and every person was impacted by their time there. 

Through my study abroad experience in Cape Town, I hope to strengthen and alter my current outlooks on life. I am excited to immerse myself in a both an internship relevant to my major/future career aspirations, as well as in a culture unique from my own. I have never been more ready to grow personally, expand my knowledge in the medical field, and just in general as a global citizen. 

It is still so surreal that I am about to start this journey in just three short months. Although this new experience scares me at times, I cannot wait to start my spring semester and create a new family and home in Cape Town. I will be pushed out of my comfort zone, challenged in ways I am currently unaware of, and I am so eager to see everything Cape Town has to offer.