Semester at Sea: A Voyage Around the World

 

  Once, I was in Minneapolis, in the middle of a summer where it rained so violently that I spent hours sitting in the driver’s seat of my parked car with music blaring watching the water gather and then fall down my windshield outside of my dorm or the grocery store or the event where my friends sat inside laughing, waiting for me. And I could convince myself, briefly, that the world outside was drowning and I was at sea connected to the only thing on this earth my body felt closest to. Maybe its because it is the thing my body manifested in before being exposed to this world and that brings a sense of trust close to god. Maybe it’s because I was born in a country my mother's body was not and the sea is the only body that I do not have to fight to convince I belong and that means something.  


  1 year after, I sat in my car on a day it did not rain. And I held a computer on my lap. Inside the laptop was a nervously written application to travel for a semester at sea, and a tab to a nice mountain bike from Amazon that I would buy once I got accepted into the program. The program I had absolutely no way to pay for. Logistically it made absolutely no sense, I had no money, and I haven't ridden a bike for years. But when I was a kid riding my first bike freshly off training wheels on my own for the first time and discovering every corner of a world that seemed impossible to me only moments before was the moment I realized how possible anything is. I may not ride bikes anymore, but I do love a good metaphor and that meant something. 


  Despite what I knew at that moment, what I know and have known forever is that being born in a country my parent's were not, with a language my parents do not speak, of a culture my parents do not consider their own, for hopes of safety and a better life, made me a traveler the moment I was born in the United States. I've been navigating cultures, spaces, and ways of life all my life. Since I learned how to ride a bike, I've had this urge of joy for travel, not necessarily to buildings, monuments, or settings, but places full of people, cultures, and ways of life that is so loud, vibrant, and taking up as much space as possible. However, somewhere along the way, I stopped taking off training wheels and got comfortable. Above all, I got comfortable of what was expected of me as a first-generation and became everything my parents, friends, and community wanted and needed me to be and stopped following that feeling in my stomach because of the unknown. The unknown was something I could not risk with my parent's sacrifices riding with me.

Yet, somewhere as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota on a full academic ride, I sat in my car, on a day it was not raining, with a computer on my lap submitting an application for a study abroad program at sea that traveled on a ship to 11 countries, 13 cities, and 4 continents all while receiving college credit. All I could think of was my ancestors and how they too were voyagers before the civil war and how blood really is the last name to our stories. However, I knew this was a program I absolutely could not pay for, yet applied to anyways because I was tired of reading books about the world without the voices of the people. The steps I took to actually apply to a program that has the world as the classroom was my form of rebellion or leap of faith and that was enough. 

My plan for combating the cost was to apply to ALL the scholarships, yet two exams were coming up, then family situations to deal with, final exams, friends to be there for, family expectations, the two jobs to pay for my rent, so many people relying on me within the leadership and mentorship roles I hold, family emergencies, board positions, poetry bookings, and the next thing I knew it was the deadline for the scholarships. I ended up only applying to one scholarship. The Alumni Scholarship. ONE SCHOLARSHIP. If I was to even receive the expected scholarship amount of that one, it wouldn't even cover 1/5 of the tuition cost alone. With the truth settling in on this dream of mine not becoming a reality. I called admissions to cancel my application to only find out that I received one of the highest amounts of scholarship funds from a family within the Alumni Scholarship. This family gave me way more than was expected of with additional funds to participate in field programs in the countries we visited. Later, I found out the rest of the tuition fees were covered by financial aid. That same day, I  ran for 3 miles. I just kept running and running and running with the feeling in my stomach exploding. I came upon a bench and called my mom. I was in between tears, laughter, and lost for words. That day I realized what true gratitude feels like and the true sense of being seen for all you're capable of and will be capable of in the future. 

The next thing I did was go on my laptop, go to Amazon, and bought the mountain bike.

Today marks 25 days until I leave onto a ship disconnect from the outside world, but with the access to the real world as a classroom. I will be leaving everything I've known and hopping on a new bike to find the next corner full of different ideas, perspectives, and ways of life that challenge me in ways I've never been challenged before and I hopefully find myself along the way. 

I am so thankful for all the love and support from family, friends, and scholarship donors.

Here is to the unknown, growth, and taking off training wheels. 

A Voyage Around the World 

Throughout this voyage, I will be blogging, vlogging, and documenting it all. Subscribe to this blog to receive notifications of when a new post is uploaded! Due to limited access to the internet, I will try my best for consistent updates, but it is not certain.

I will, however, have access to my ship email. If you would like to stay in contact, email me at muna.abdulahi.fa18@semesteratsea.org