My 11-Day Study Abroad Trip To Morocco That Grew My Experience as a Global Communicator!

This past summer, I had the unique opportunity to travel with 20 University of Tampa students to The Kingdom of Morocco. We visited three cities – Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech, and it was an experience of a lifetime. We also went camel riding at Agafay Desert – the camels loped along in a single row, head to tail, with 20 of us acclimating to the camels' gait. It was early May, and we were far from Tampa – on another continent actually – trekking through desert terrain as part of an 11-day study abroad program.

My travel course to Morocco grew my experience as a global communicator. I could go to other parts of the world and be more confident in my ability to communicate. We visited a start-up and were informed about the demographics of the Moroccan market. Additionally, my group and I went to an NGO called Transparency Morocco, where we were able to sit and discuss problems of corruption within the Moroccan government. My fellow Spartans and I had the opportunity of collaborating on a business communication project with Moroccan students at UM6P - Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.

This trip gave me much respect for Moroccan culture and an increased appreciation of my roots. Being from Mumbai, India – I almost felt like I was in a different city in India countless times. During my trip, I befriended many strangers in Morocco and wondered why it was so easy. The answer was because Indian and Moroccan cultures have a plethora of similarities. I visited the historical Rick's Cafe in Casablanca and the Jemaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakech's medina quarter (old city). My eye-opening journey in Morocco has added pivotal insight to my unique outlook on life!