"Traveling to London caused me to want to travel even more. So I traveled to Cameroon.", Kari Skildum

My name is Kari Skildum and I have enjoyed travels to both London, England, and Cameroon, Africa. As a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Morris, I had already known I had an interest in traveling abroad to some place I had never gone before, Since I had taken some Spanish classes in High School, I had originally had some interest in traveling to a Spanish speaking country. When I heard about a meeting to learn about travel abroad experiences, I did not hesitate to go. That is where I learned about the opportunity to study Shakespeare in London. I already had an interest in Shakespeare and thought this would be an excellent way of spending a summer month. So it was not long before I found myself watching Shakespearean plays in London.

Looking back over my time studying abroad in London, there were many experiences I especially remember. For example, our group had the opportunity to have a tour of the remodeled Globe Theater before watching the play, Julius Caesar. Besides viewing other plays, we also had the opportunity to tour much of London. I recall visiting many museums, parks, and other tourist sights, such as the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. In addition to learning about London, we had the opportunity to explore the England countryside, including a journey to Shakespeare's hometown and a visit to Stonehenge. Another memorable experience was traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland for a weekend trip, which involved a tour of most of the Scotland countryside. Although we visited the Loch Ness Visitor Center, I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to see the Loch Ness Monster.

My sophomore year, I again found myself at the travel abroad meeting. Since I had enjoyed London so much, I was interested in finding out about some experience that would be different. That is where I learned about traveling to Cameroon, Africa. I had never been to Africa before and thought this would be a very interesting experience, so again, it was not long before I found myself in a whole new continent for a three-week experience.

In Cameroon, I had the opportunity to experience many cultural aspects, such as National Day. On this holiday, we had the opportunity to watch a parade featuring many people of Cameroon. Later we were invited to eat and dance with several important Cameroonians to celebrate the holiday. In addition, our group had the opportunity to walk through the Korup National Rainforest, which gave us the opportunity to see a dwarf chameleon, a frog, and a strangulating vine that kills trees. A group of us also had the wonderful experience of climbing Mount Cameroon, an active volcano that started erupting a few days after climbing it. One of the things I remember about Cameroon were some of the tasty foods, such as perfect pineapple and plantains. But my main focus in Cameroon was my directed study of learning about primary schools. I greatly enjoyed visiting several schools and even watching a ceremony one school put on for us.

Mount Cameroon

Fortunately, when traveling to London, I had financial assistance from my parents. However, when traveling to Cameroon, I did not have that same option. However, I found out about the possibility of taking out a direct loan that covered all the expenses of the trip.

Traveling to London caused me to want to travel even more. So I traveled to Cameroon. But that experience has now only caused me to want to travel even more, to more places that I have never been before. I have found that traveling to new places has created so many great memories that I am glad that I had the opportunities that I did through UMM's study abroad program. Going with groups of other UMM students helped to make the experience more comfortable and enjoyable. Just taking three or four weeks out of a summer vacation can give a person a way to earn some very fun credits while having an experience they will never forget.