Centers and Institutes

"Over this time the partnership has grown to include a wonderful coalition of community stakeholders and institutions and this has only been possible through the time, care, and consistency of the USD faculty and USD SOLES Global Center". . . "As students in a school-counseling program ourselves it was very beneficial for us to have these direct hours of learning and we often had to adapt our class lessons and sessions and reflect on why we do things the way that we do them. The whole trip was a wonderful lesson in adapting and pivoting as we worked to best accommodate the community partners and their needs and schedules.

"Connecting with South Africans by hearing their stories of both hardship and immense resilience had the biggest impact on me. As someone who holds multiple marginalized identities, it reminded me that I am capable of achieving things despite the unfair barriers placed on people like me. America can often feel like an echo chamber, limiting our understanding of the broader human experience. Being immersed in South Africa, with the foundation this program provided, expanded my worldview and professional goals to include serving populations that I had even formally overlooked."

"As counselors, it's important to put in the effort to understand our clients culture and being able to be in a new country, participate in spiritual activities, learn about food, family, and traditions, understand stigma from a new lens, learn from educators and students from new universities were all ways we immersed ourselves in the culture. While education, experience, theories, and interventions are all important, the human aspect to counseling is so healing and important."