Learning by the Beach

As the sun sets behind the beautiful blue ocean, I sit transfixed as I watch the fiery ball disappear and the dark blue night sky begins to hide the presently orange and red colored sky.
It is day 26, a month has almost passed and my daily ritual of reflecting at the beach is one of my favorite activities. The small waves and cold water help me unwind. As they should. I mean, it is Mauritius: an island known as a holiday destination. A constant reminder are the couples who take evening walks, or the families who build sand castles together, laughing and talking as they work. It’s a great place to be. I look out into the horizon one last time, stand up and head back to the student housing.
Why am I on this Island? I am going to university; the best university I know. What makes it so great, it’s not the engaging relevant courses that are there to build us as leaders. It’s not the real time work experience I experience. Nor is it the diverse and friendly environment. It is great because of all these elements simultaneously exist on Mauritius.
The courses cut across important learning points like critical thinking to time management. We learn how to communicate ideas and are given platforms to express these ideas.
In class we have discovery sessions where we uncover our next topic and then dig deep in our personal work to learn more about the topic. After which we have discussions with our peers to consolidate all the information we collected. Lastly, we present to the rest of the class and our facilitators.
Work experience builds our teamwork communication and working methods with people from different countries. We work with real companies on real projects to have a feel of a working environment out of school.
Diverse cultures and backgrounds adds into the richness of class sessions and team projects, we get to learn about how people from other countries tackle problems and find solutions. I am always interested when my colleagues talk about an experience they had back home. I connect more to their story than if I had just read about it online. It breaks borders and stereotypes about a particular place or region.
Our community is friendly and, most importantly, fun! When the word FUN is part of your learning cycle, you best believe that it will be present. We have activities such as MOVE that expect us to move in any way, whether it be dance or sports, to keep us healthy and active.
Each stage of my learning has its ups and downs but ultimately it is an exciting process, and at the end of each day, I get to go back to my favorite spot and watch the sun go down.