September 4, 2018

Study Abroad Spotlight: Dakar, Senegal

Walk into through the Mamie Jenkins Building doors at the beginning of the fall or spring semester and see if a burst of laughter from the student study room or just down the hallway isn’t followed up by “You didn’t believe me, did you? Those Inca Trail porters are superhumans!”

Students fresh off the plane with their summer stories are always around, giving advice to students considering their first study abroad trip or nodding in a loose circle with faculty—all with the same knowing smiles. Students return to campus with more than just insight from their study abroad experience. Having seen the sun set on a new horizon, students are knit tighter into their community with a reforged call to action. The plentiful opportunities at ECU and in the Honors College to pursue a study abroad experience make it easy to find homecoming support, as well as a sense of traveler comradery you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

“This study abroad know-how from a student perspective was crucial for me while in Dakar. I look forward to helping other students prepare for their time abroad so that they can make the most out of it,” says Josh Gurganus. A sophomore EC Scholar, only weeks ago Josh was rolling across the West African savanna alongside lions and gazelles—breathtakingly close to bounding rhinos and swaying elephants. “It was the real-life Lion King.”

After finding the five-week summer study in Dakar, Senegal, through International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP) online, Josh seized the opportunity. He found support from the

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program and ECU’s own French Priority Scholarship, and spent the summer at the Dakar Institute of African Studies. “After being back from Senegal, my perspective has changed on a lot of things. The way I view the world, home, myself, and just people in general has changed a lot. Everywhere I went was new to me and everyone I met was a new face. I love exploring and doing new things.”

Even in his “average” routine compared to his Greenville schedule, Josh loved that each day brimmed with the uniqueness Senegal offered. He would take a taxi to the Dakar Institute for his morning French class, then to one of his three internships: one at business school, another at a print shop, and the last at an environmental non-profit. His internship ended at one o’clock, so he had the rest of the day to immerse in the storied culture. He explored the city’s alluring beaches and cafés, “and just hanging out with other American and Senegalese students.” After exploring Dakar, Josh enjoyed the hospitality of more traditional Senegalese culture every night: dinner with his host family. “Every night at 9:00pm,” Josh remembers.

Of course, Dakar was not the only bearing on Josh’s map. When his classes and internships ended for the week, Josh joined excursions across Senegal every weekend. “The weekend field trips took us to St. Louis in northern Senegal, as well as Somone and Jaol Fadiout, which are south of Dakar. I got a pretty holistic view of the country with these weekend trips.”

Every student studying abroad finds a variety of surprises when each day is a newfound experience. Even time was a change in pace. “Everything was a lot slower there than in the US. Meeting times and duration of events were very delayed and flexible,” Josh says. “They speak Wolof and French in Senegal. I’ve studied French for five years, so I knew I could get around the city decently. However, a lot of people don’t speak French, and only spoke Wolof. So those situations were somewhat difficult to get through; however, the Senegalese students I was with often helped me out.”

Although each day abroad brings new surprises, some are itchier than others. “My host family didn’t have a laundry machine, so we had to wash our clothes by hand. The first time I washed my clothes, I had no clue what I was doing so I just splashed my clothes around in a bucket of water with a bar of soap. When I thought I was done, I put my clothes in another bucket to go dry them, but then my host mom threw some white powder on my clothes. I thought that maybe it was a drying powder, so I just hung up the clothes on our roof to dry. I found out later that that was powder soap and that I was supposed to wash my clothes twice. So, all those clothes got soap ingrained into them as they dried throughout the next day. I did not make that mistake twice,” Josh laughs.

Despite the adjustments that these surprises might bring, students are never alone when support from home, the Honors College, and around campus is always available. “My dad went to Senegal back when he was in the Air Force, so he was excited for me to live in Dakar like he did. My mom was probably a little more anxious about me going, but was also excited for me to travel the world like I’ve always wanted to do.”

As a Benjamin A. Gilman and ECU French Priority Scholar, Josh continues his work in global impact at East Carolina. He joined ECU’s Global Ambassadors and speaks at events and in classes to promote the worldwide impact that studying abroad brings. Of course, Josh is also one of the many students in Mamie Jenkins that could tell you a thing or two about studying abroad’s unparalleled value.

“My main goal when encouraging other students to study abroad is to discourage any doubts or worries that they may have. Studying abroad can be the most awesome and enriching time in your life. I want students to understand that studying abroad is doable for anyone. There are programs available for students in every major. You can go abroad during a semester, summer, winter break, or even spring break! Also, studying abroad can cost as much as or even less than attending ECU. There are a ridiculous amount of scholarships to help fund your time abroad. You just have to apply!”

“My advice to students would be to not just ‘get by’ while studying abroad. It would be easy to hide in a shell and just try to stick to what you’re comfortable doing. However, this experience shouldn’t be something normal that happens to you, and you return unchanged. You should make the most of every situation. Embrace the fun times as well as all of those awkward situations which are sure to happen. Every moment abroad will later become a memory you look back on. Why not give yourself some good times to remember?”

The ECU Honors College is dedicated to educating their students for global impact and translating their international experience into regional transformation. There are a vast number of study abroad opportunities and support resources easily accessible to students, adaptable to their unique academic programs.

The EC Scholar program asks each student to travel on at least one study abroad experience, and provides a $5,000 stipend to fund it. However, many students like Josh plan to embark on more than one adventure. “I plan on studying abroad every summer while I’m in college. The summer of 2019, I want to go to France. In 2020, I want to go to China,” Josh says.

To learn more about study abroad opportunities, you can contact us at 252.328.6373, email us at honorscollege@ecu.edu or visit us on ECU’s campus at the Mamie Jenkins Building. To keep up to date onHonors College events and student stories like Josh’s, follow us on social media.

Written by: Garrett Yarbrough, Senior EC Scholar