Child Life Study Abroad

While in class studying to become a child life specialist, I am taught over and over that play is the universal language of childhood. It was not until I immersed myself in a whole new culture across the world, when I realized the truth to this statement. Having the opportunity to work with so many different children, in all sorts of settings, speaking many of the different languages native to South Africa was incredible. Recognizing how play is a language we all can "speak" and understand and its importance to a child is a lesson whose impact goes much further than the classroom.