Why did you decide to study abroad with IHP?
Lexi: I decided to study abroad with IHP because it allowed me to travel to three different continents, to do multiple home-stays and it was a great hands-on experiential learning opportunity.
Reading a textbook passage about informal settlements, even if you are sitting in a classroom in Sao Paulo or Cape Town, cannot possibly equate to being able to speak to a favela community leader about his life's work, or a shanty-town leader about his role in organizing protests against the government.
I loved that there was no 'typical day' with IHP, but rather each day provided me with the opportunity to dig deeper into the city, to better understand its challenges and its successes.
What made this study abroad experience unique and special?
Lexi: IHP was unique and special in every facet of its programming. Coming back to school after being abroad, and speaking with my friends about their abroad experiences allowed me to realize just how astounding, challenging, informative, adventurous, beautiful and individual my time with IHP was. It's not plane hopping around Europe or even making a home in a single strange country, but rather capitalizing on every day in a city, because you won't be there for long. IHP allowed me to interview reformed gangsters, go on safari, visit two natural world wonders, walk with elephants, live in a township, question communist government officials about their master plan for a city, and become friends with an extraordinary group of students, professors and staff.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Lexi: An integral part of the IHP experience is the independent Comparative Analysis Project, in which you create a research question with the help of a professor, and in each country pursue answers to that question. For my research I was delving into the differences between international and community based organizations working with vulnerable populations. I became so interested in my project that in addition to presenting my abroad research at our Student Symposium back on campus, I applied for and received a grant from my university to study a related question here in Richmond, VA for the summer. I've now written an extensive research paper on that topic and I will present my results to the university later this year.
Tell us about an experience you had that you could not have had at home
Lexi: It is honestly impossible to pick a single experience, most days were filled with new activities and experiences I could have never had at home or at school. So I guess I'd just pick an activity that doesn't seem so extraordinary, but in reality it was exactly that. Crossing the street in Hanoi is exhilarating, frightening and fantastic. In order to successfully cross the street you are required to observe a certain process. You slowly you step off the curb and in an even pace you stride across the street, rarely stopping unless there's a particularly anxious driver honking at you, and you never ever jump backwards. It appears simple, but when you take into consideration the hundreds of motorcycles, bicycles, cars and other people zooming down the streets at all times, it becomes a herculean feat. It was a definite high point for many of us when we mastered the street cross, and would then watch tourists attempt to navigate the same space we now felt so comfortable in.
Do you think Cities in the 21st Century changed you as a person?
Lexi: Absolutely and unequivocally. It has been about a year since I first left the country with IHP and I cannot count the ways in which I am a very different person. My perspectives on race, class, economics, US foreign policy, environmentalism, governmental systems, languages and foreign aid to name a few have completely changed. And perhaps more importantly, I now know that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought possible. Maybe the best part of IHP for me, and what I really learned on the trip that I could not have learned elsewhere, is that, if I let it happen, who I am will constantly evolve. If I take each moment as an opportunity to intentionally think through my actions and others' actions, then I can continually delve deeper into who I am, and who I want to be.