How GU-Q’s Travel Programs Turn Studying Into an Adventure
By Lawrence Mararac
Travel has always been one of the most powerful ways to learn about history, about the world, and about ourselves. There’s something deeply transformative about stepping into a place shaped by a history different from our own, immersing ourselves in its culture, and seeing firsthand the realities we’ve only encountered in books or lectures. That is why I have come to love traveling, not just as a hobby, but as a way to grow.
At Georgetown, we’re given unique opportunities to blend travel with academic and community engagement through programs that challenge us to think beyond the classroom. Two of the most well-known programs are Zones of Conflict, Zones of Peace (ZCZP), a three-credit course that allows students to explore historical and contemporary conflicts in different parts of the world, and the Community Engagement Program (CEP), which focuses on immersive service learning and collaboration with communities abroad.
“These are not just trips, they’re experiences designed to deepen our understanding of history, justice, and the way people rebuild, reconcile, and move forward.”
South Africa: A Journey Through History
Last Fall 2023, I had the chance to take the ZCZP course on post-Apartheid South Africa, and I could never have anticipated just how much it would shift my perspective. Before even setting foot in South Africa, we spent weeks in the classroom studying its complex history—studying Apartheid not just as a historical period, but as a system that left deep scars still visible in contemporary society. We explored themes of reconciliation, transitional justice, and the politics of memory, questioning how nations move forward after such immense division. We examined the role of truth commissions, the significance of sites of memory, and the ways in which systemic inequality persists long after legal segregation ends.
Then, the moment arrived. After all the reading, discussions, and case studies, we boarded a plane and flew across the world to see it all firsthand.
Landing in Cape Town was exhilarating, not only was it my first time in the city, but it was also my first time on the African continent.
“I remember stepping off the plane, feeling the warm air, and realizing that this place, which had existed in my mind only as history and theory, was now right in front of me.”
Cape Town itself felt like a city of contrasts: stunning landscapes with a backdrop of a complicated past. We visited key sites of memory, each with its own weight of history. District Six, once a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood forcibly cleared during Apartheid, now serves as a reminder of displacement and resilience. Bo-Kaap, with its colorful houses and deep Cape Malay heritage, told another story of identity and resistance. One of the most striking moments for me was our visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. Taking the ferry from Cape Town, stepping into that prison cell, and hearing the stories of former political prisoners was sobering. It is one thing to read about history, but standing in the space where it happened makes it feel urgent and real.
Beyond the historical sites, we also experienced South Africa in ways that connected us to the present. We explored local markets, sampled South African cuisine, and spent time at Camps Bay, where the ocean stretched endlessly against the Twelve Apostles mountain range.
There was a kind of quiet bonding that happened on this trip, not just between us and the people we met, but among ourselves as 15+ Hoyas. Our guide, Alie, was not just someone showing us around, he became part of our experience, sharing his insights, memories, andhumor. Some of the most meaningful moments came from conversations over dinner, processing everything we were seeing and learning together.
A short flight across the country and Johannesburg became our new classroom, adding another layer of understanding. Visiting the Apartheid Museum felt overwhelming in its depth. Walls lined with images, documents, and testimonies forced us to confront the brutality of the past. Constitution Hill, where political prisoners were once held, stood as both a reminder of suffering and a symbol of progress, now housing South Africa’s Constitutional Court. I found myself thinking about the tension between memory and healing, how a country grapples with its past while trying to build a future.
By the end of the trip, I realized that learning history this way made it something I would never forget. The lessons of Apartheid were not just academic anymore, they became personal, tied to the places I had walked and the voices I had heard.
A Shared Experience
Reflecting on this, I was struck by how similar my experience was to that of my friend Rahma Boucherit (GU-Q ‘27), who participated in the Community Engagement Program (CEP) in Nepal. The ZCZP program is academic and experiential, the CEP trip is grounded in service, learning, and engaging with new communities. She described her time there as immaculate: a perspective reset, an experience that no words could truly capture. For her, the trip was not just about traveling, it was about working alongside people, engaging in physical effort, and sitting with deep reflections on the past, present, and future. She spoke about the humbling experience of witnessing different ways of life, of questioning who we are in the grander scheme of things.
What struck her most was the community she became part of, how genuine happiness was not tied to material wealth, but to human connection. The barriers that often define social hierarchies faded away. Through shared struggles, laughter, and collective effort, there was an authenticity in the way people interacted. My journey to South Africa and hers to Nepal are just two examples of how we, as Georgetown students, embrace the Jesuit values of service, reflection, and global engagement.
Expanding Horizons, Breaking Barriers
Both ZCZP and CEP highlight something fundamental about the way Georgetown approaches learning, it is not confined to classrooms or textbooks. It is about immersing ourselves in the realities of the world, about seeing beyond our own perspectives.
All in all, traveling with a purpose—whether to learn, to serve, or to connect—expands our horizons in ways we cannot anticipate. It forces us to confront difficult histories, to question our assumptions, and to embrace perspectives different from our own. But perhaps more importantly, it teaches us that the world isn’t just something to be studied. It is something to be experienced. And in that experience, we find ourselves, not just as individuals, but as part of a larger, interconnected world.
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