Hello and Happy 2020! Ellie Potts here! If you have come across this page, you may have recently heard of how I am going to be spending my next term at college. I have taken a full year and two quarters of college courses at Western so far, and rather than returning to Bellingham for my winter and spring quarters, I am spending a semester abroad with the Semester at Sea program through Colorado State University. This program runs twice a year, covering at least ten ports from four different continents. As a student of SAS Spring 2020, I will be shuttled from San Diego to Enseñada, Mexico where we embark, then traveling to Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, and finally the Netherlands. Following the voyage, my mother and sister will be flying to meet me in Belgium where we will visit and then travel to France and Spain. 15 countries in a few months with earning 19 quarter-college credits required me to get a new passport, visas, work several jobs, and fill out A LOT of paperwork. I am so excited for this journey as I have worked hard to make it happen, and I know I will meet people and learn about cultures that will change my perspective. If you want to learn more about the locations I am going to, Semester at Sea has the ports listed here: https://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2020/
While the ship is moving between ports, I will be in class taking courses to earn credits for my environmental economic major and international studies minor. The global studies course is required by SAS, and this course provides students with preparation before arriving at each port; from how to say common phrases of the native language, to history and relations with the U.S., and traveling advice, I am thankful this course is unique to the program and helpful to students. My other classes meet every other day, and include Physical Geography, Macroeconomics, and International Political Economy. I have a second (and almost complete) minor in Spanish, but SAS didn’t offer any courses this term, so I will have to keep up with my language by finding spanish books, movies and other student speakers of the 600-ish on my voyage.
I am going to be rooming in a small, triple bedroom dorm without a window, and with two girls who I met online while searching for SAS roommates. I am excited to share my DVD player with them (thanks for the Christmas present mom and dad!), as I am bringing a handful of borrowed DVDs (thank you Stephanie!) as wifi is not consistent while at sea. I am also packing my aero press coffee maker, some spanish books, my new camera, and a few journals to fill with my stories.
I plan to post on my blog once or twice every other week, depending on our timing with ports. If you would like to write me emails or letters, my email is ellie.potts.sp20@semesteratsea.org and here is information for writing letters to SAS students: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vT3VatxZq3df0tjjoR4n_oh5GQotlnrIKejXkQA_0PJhQHxuhwZaaNiCzi25KCTi7XZuPinEWD7UBF4/pub
Thank you for reading and supporting me on this incredible voyage! There are many other thoughts I have had and want to share in my next posts about the privilege of travel and the responsibility I believe there is to give back. If you have travel advice, questions, or comments, feel free to leave them below as I am currently on my flight to San Diego and will be there until January 4th when I head for the ship 🙂
Ellie's Voyage Abroad 