Like many great stories this one begins with boredom. Early last semester I realized that I had no plans for this summer, and if you know me, then you know that I am a major planner. I have my entire graduate life planned out in excruciating detail in an Excel spreadsheet (I can show it to you). Upon this realization I decided to do something about that.

Not sure what happened to me when I was younger but I have always felt this need to travel. It’s part wanting to get out of my comfort zone and part not wanting to die without seeing as many spectacular things as possible. I’ve never wanted to spend the rest of my life in my hometown of Mesquite, Texas. The idea of never moving to another city/state/country/continent always seemed suffocating to me. I just wasn’t built to stay put in one place my entire life. It might have been easier on my family if I was.

During my first semester of graduate school one of my favorite professors passed out a flyer from one of her colleagues at Rollins (school of public health at Emory). It was for an opportunity for a interdisciplinary team to travel and conduct research in Kenya. Bingo! I quickly jumped at the opportunity and began reading everything I could about the Global Health Institute, which funds many different teams to conduct research over the summer.

I soon realized that I really wanted this. Although I am pretty sure I was the least qualified person. I have never been to a third-world country for such a long period. I have never been to another country for 3 months straight. I have never read/done research with HIV/AIDS. It was partnered with a religious organization, which I don’t read about or research religion. But I decided to go for it anyway and see what happens. The worst they could do is say no, right? Well, they said yes and thus began the crazy roller coaster towards my summer in Kenya.

READ ALL OF STEPHANIE’S BLOG, ADVENTURES IN KENYA>>