By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Three students from the University of Lethbridge to take part in the Semester at Sea program

Sep 3, 2018 | 11:26 AM

LETHBRIDGE – When it comes to back to school season for most university students, that usually means waking up earlier, buying new books, and figuring out their schedule.

For three University of Lethbridge students, this year is a little different, as they’ll soon be setting sail on the adventure of a lifetime.

Amanda Sakundiak and Mackenzie Salmon, the first recipients of the Brawn Family Foundation scholarship, and Prachi Sanghavi, who’s participating in the Semester at Sea program at her own expense, set sail from Hamburg, Germany on Sept. 9 for a semester of learning in the shipboard classrooms, through field experiences, and service projects in countries around the world.

During the semester, they’ll sail around the world with stops in 11 countries, including Germany, Spain, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Japan and the United States, before disembarking in San Diego, California on Dec. 23.

Sanghavi, a third-year neuroscience student, says she’ll be leaving at Sept. 6 for the trip before setting out and return home on Dec. 27.

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All in, the trip will see the students on board for over four months. That mean’s quite a lot of preparation beforehand, including immunization.

“I did get some shots through Semester at Sea, they give you a list of what you need to get for each country. There’s also a website that people can go on from the Government of Canada that goes over what precautions to take and what medications are needed.”

“In terms of luggage, we’re only allowed to take two duffle bags and they have to be collapsible. I just took the biggest duffle bag I could find, and I’ve just been packing stuff into that,” Sanghavi added.

Sakundiak, a second-year student majoring in marketing in the Dhillon School of Business, just says she’s very thankful.

“There’s no way I could do this without the Brawn Family Foundation scholarship. I’m very thankful to them for donating.”

A kinesiology student entering her fourth year, Salmon, also expressed her gratitude to the Brawn Family Foundation.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the world and exploring the diversity within it. I want to return to the U of L with a first-hand and greater appreciation for global awareness. I look forward to applying my new discoveries to my future education and career,” Salmon added.

The three students from the U of L will join about 500 other students from around the world, although primarily from North America, on the MV World Odyssey, a 10-deck ship with nine classrooms.

Sanghavi, who will get credit for the last half of her university career on the ship while taking four classes on board, explains how things will work on board.

“It’s actually a ship just meant for university students. They have a bunch of professors come on, and guest speakers come on as well from the United Nations and other amazing places around the world. While you’re not in port, you get to take classes like a normal student, and then once we dock we get to go explore the country and have a hands-on learning experience.”

Sanghavi says there’s a number of reasons she decided to go on the Semester at Sea, but a major one is always having wanted to travel the world. 

“That’s always been something I wanted to do. The other thing is I’ve always been a hands-on learner, I love being able to learn theory in class and be able to take it into a country and be like ‘Oh, that’s exactly what I’ve learned’ and I get to see it,” Sanghavi remarked.

In her anthropology course, Sanghavi discussed how she learned so much about different cultures’ outlooks on the world and that she can’t wait to see them during the trip.

Sanghavi says for as excited as she is for the trip, her family is even more excited for her.

“They’re so excited. We have a family group chat, and everyone in the extended family, this is all they’re talking about,” Sanghavi said with a laugh.

As far as what she’s hoping to get out of the trip, Sanghavi says she’s looking forward to going into a community and experiencing how they live life. 

“One of the things I’m doing in Ghana is called a home-stay. I actually get to live with a local family and go through their day to day life with them. Also learning how to travel, and to be a conscientious traveller, as well.” 

The Semester at Sea is covering half the cost of the trip, and Sanghavi says the U of L also has two scholarships available that are covering the entire program for some students.

The students will be sharing their experiences through web and video logs. 

Sakundiak’s blog can be found at Amanda Abroad, Salmon’s blog can be found at Kenzie Around the World and Sanghavi’s vlog can be found at Prachi’s Vlogs.

Sanghavi says the YouTube channel is just to share her adventures on the ship and in the different countries.

“I’m hoping to upload as much as I can, but the Wi-Fi on the ship isn’t that great. So, I’m going to try and find Wi-Fi in each port, and hopefully upload one video in each country. I just want to share what each country is like, what ship life is like and give some people advice if they’d like to get involved in this program in the future,” Sanghavi said.