By Violeta Panayotova

 

Imagine the sun shining brightly but a nice breeze going through your hair. After the cold weather that we experienced in the past few weeks, this picture sounds pretty amazing, right now. And it is. Jacqueline McIntosh has the privilege to experience the amazingness of such an adventure.

Graduating in 2016 from TPA, Jacqueline was accepted in Mount Holyoke where she found the opportunity to follow a professor and go to Sri Lanka. But let’s start from the beginning and what shaped her interest toward the major she chose.

Jacqueline greatly appreciates, and considers to be the best part of Tempe Prep, the faculty. “The fact that we have former college professors teaching at TPA speaks volumes to its quality and its educational philosophy,” she said. And discussions in humane letters made her find interest toward religion and anthropology.

Thanks to Mrs. Moffitt she found the great college of Mount Holyoke. There she met the great Professor Mrozik who does her research with Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka. Fascinated with the conversation of religion and anthropology in Sri Lanka, Jacqueline has been there only for a month and she already loves it. Although different, it is opening the window to different ideas and people with a different culture.

While there, she is living with a host family. She explains that her family does not speak much English so she is exposed to a great deal of new vocabulary every single day. Since the island is so small she gets to explore it and has seen much of it.

“I think the biggest lesson I have learned here and will continue to learn is cultural humility.” She has noticed many differences in the Sri Lankan culture. For instance, their understanding of race is completely different. Commenting on someone’s skin is not viewed as a taboo topic, rather it is part of their everyday life.

Another big change Jacqueline experienced was the food. Not only was it different but the portions were as well. “It was an initial point of contention with my host family when I tried to convince them that I was genuinely not hungry. Sometimes they can take it as an insult to the quality of their food.”

Although Jacqueline’s adventures do not stop there and hardships she has faced with the time difference continue, she has already learned a lot and this “makes you so much stronger and so much more self-reliant.”

Studying abroad and expanding your world view is essential to any student who wants to embody Tempe Prep’s mantra of “sense of wonder” and “depth of inquiry.” Get out of your comfort zone and you will go to great places and do great things. And who knows, maybe one day you will be able to say that you did not experience the cold hard winter of Arizona.