Though most Kenyon students use the summer to “get off the hill,” senior Maggie Boelter really took that idea to the next level as she spent the summer traveling throughout Italy and South Africa. We got a chance to catch up with Maggie and ask her a little bit more about her experience this summer.
Name: Maggie Boelter
Year: 2014
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Parkersburg, West Virginia
The word around campus is that you were very busy traveling this summer. Would you mind giving a brief overview of what you did?
Absolutely! I started off the summer by traveling to Italy on an 11-day tour with one of my fellow KCWB (Kenyon College Women’s Basketball) members, Lauren.
That’s awesome! Where specifically in Italy did you go?
We traveled from Venice all the way to Rome, making stops in Pompeii, Florence, and a ton of other places along the way.
What came next?
Well after Italy I returned home for a short 36-hour visit and then hopped back on a flight to South Africa. I was so completely jetlagged and worn out, but it didn’t matter because I was going to South Africa!
Did you make the plans for the trip on your own or did you go through a program?
I went on a six-week SIT program called Education and Social Change with another KCWB teammate, Autumn. We studied the effects that apartheid had and continues to have on the education system in South Africa. I was staying in a homestay there in a township for a little while before traveling to a more rural village. It was nice to have a friend there with me when the six weeks started to feel long.
It sounds like a really rewarding trip. Had you ever done a trip like this before?
I had actually never left the country before this set of trips.
Really?
Well, unless you count Canada, which I do. So yes, I’ve traveled to Canada!
We’ll count that. What made you decide to go for the summer abroad experience?
I really wanted to study abroad at some point during my time at Kenyon but playing basketball made that pretty hard because the season goes into both semesters, so it made the most sense to go in the summer.
So what was the craziest experience you had this summer while you were away?
Well, in South Africa we were hiking on South Coast on the beach along the Indian Ocean…and eight of us thought it would be a great idea to go out to this big, beautiful rock that was about 20 yards out into the ocean to take some pictures because you’re only hiking along the Indian Ocean once, right?. But when we got there we found out that our “rock” was really a bunch of broken shells and sharp coral reef pieces. A huge wave came right as we made it to the rock and tossed us around, so we all ended up getting cut up pretty badly.
That’s pretty scary…was anyone really hurt?
Well I have a weirdly cool scar on my back from it! I’ve tried to come up with a cooler story to tell about it, something along the lines of “I got attacked by a tiger…” but that definitely wasn’t the case.
Although scary that’s pretty cool nonetheless. So, getting back to the Hill, what are you involved in around campus?
I’m on the basketball team, which is great. I’m also a Crozier big sister and not sure if you have heard about Baskcapella…we were a pretty big deal we opened up for the Owl Creeks last year. I’m very proud of that moment.
Any post-college plans?
I have a kind of tentative plan. I want to go to grad school to get my MPA. I’m in love with education so I want to do something with educational policy on that level, I’m just not quite sure about the specifics. I definitely want to take a year off first, probably to travel. I’ve been looking into some programs where I could backpack in Patagonia or something
Ok as a final question, what would an ideal day at Kenyon be for you?
Ok an ideal Kenyon day for me would start with waking up early…like before anyone else is up and out. Then going to the bookstore to get some bookstore coffee because it’s the bomb. And then probably setting up camp in the middle of South quad just to read and nap and listen to music all day and maybe going to Peirce at some points, but only if I’m not too lazy to get up.
If only every day at Kenyon could be like that.