«Samson» une chanson par Regina Spektor

The following is an essay in French, so feel free to skip if you don’t speak French or aren’t interested. more »

Madagascar!

The country, not the movie.

After many weeks of surreptitious planning, meetings with the undergraduate advisor, the dean of study-abroad, the head of the Office of Global Programs, the class dean and my department chair (still pending are meetings with a few professors whose classes I have to take out of sequence), I have been approved to study in Madagascar for a semester! I was literally bouncing off the walls yesterday, because I knew it was such a long shot. Hence, all the meetings.

Columbia is so stingy about their study abroad–their requirements to go abroad are at least twice as strict as whatever program’s, and much more strict than other schools’. I had to either complete the language requirement or take two semesters of French (thank goodness I placed into Intermediate II), and take a course pertaining to my region of study (Africa). You must also prove relevance to your major or future career goals. I was originally planning to go next semester which would have been perfect, but I’d forgotten to take an Africa class, so that opened a Pandora’s Box of more intricate dealings. Engineers are usually daunted by the prospect of studying abroad because, starting junior year, classes must be taken Columbia in a certain order. I thought I was completely done for.

I planned out the rest of my semesters here and there’s absolutely no wiggle room, but I cleared the Spring 2009 semester to do SIT’s Madagascar: Conservation and Ecology program and I can still graduate on time. I’m taking some required classes and some late, but I think it’s worth it. I mean, talk to me in a few semesters and I’ll probably want to die, but… it’s Madagascar, and the program is perfect for me!

I was kind of irked when I shared my news with some people, and they were all, “that’s a random place” in not such a nice tone. I wanted to do something different—chances are I’ll end up in Europe at some point or another anyway, what are the chances I’m going to end up in Africa? I want to immerse myself in a completely different culture, speak a different language (French and Malagasy), eat different foods, listen to different music. I’ll be in homestay instead of a dormitory, so I’m going to pick up on a lot of conversational skills, a personal goal of mine. I’ll be in the field, not in a structured academic institution. Madagascar is literally one of the most diverse places in the world, both culturally (the people can trace their roots to the Middle East, East Africa, South Asia, then European colonialism) and naturally (as the fourth largest island on earth, and for the most part isolated, 80% of its species are endemic). They have six different types of baobab trees. </le petit prince reference>

Besides, in the end, this is what I want to do. I want to take a year or two off before entering the workforce or a graduate degree to do some work for Engineers Without Borders and volunteer in Africa. The thing is that you can engineer these places out of poverty. That’s what it is–engineering–you can’t just throw money at them and expect infrastructure to pop out of nowhere. That’s the only reason I’m in this Earth & Environmental engineering major, the only reason I’m even in the engineering school (why else would I suffer through chemistry?). I want to use it to better people’s lives in a clean, sustainable way.

So, if you were a parent (let’s say… my parents) and your daughter told you she was going to Madagascar for a semester, what would your reaction be?

Uhm, yeah. I didn’t tell them in case my department said no. Which was a very real possibility. (Plus, they don’t pay for the program, Columbia does, so there wouldn’t be any difference in my financial aid package.)