Mackenzie Nealis's FE with Global Seminars in Bali

Mackenzie is from South Lake Tahoe, California and the oldest of three children in her family. Her family is the most important thing in her life, she has a younger sister and brother who are her best friends. I am super adventurous and love to explore. I love to ski and play soccer and go hiking. She also loves to travel and she can't wait to see more of the world! She is currently headed into her Senior year of college studying Global Health on track to attend Dental school after graduation.

Through UCSD Global Seminars she participated in a study abroad program in Bali, Indonesia. The program focused on Health, Healing and Sustainability.

For her field experience she spent five weeks traveling all around Bali, and investigating the ideas of local organizations like Bumi Sehat Midwifery Clinic, Sungai Watch, PKP Women’s Center, and Rumah Berdaya. On a day to day basis they attended one of these organizations followed by class time. They also completed daily readings along with journal entries.

"The main challenge I faced while studying abroad was the language barrier making it hard to communicate my needs or understand others to the fullest. Part of class time was spent learning the language so this was helpful in communicating with locals."

She learned a lot through this experience about health and what that means for each individual. She is taking way from this experience valuable lessons in understanding people and culture along with different modes of performing health. She also learned a lot about myself and things she values to be important. Additionally, she took away lifelong friendships that she wlll cherish forever. She loved every moment in Bali and her time there has inspired her to continue traveling and future career aspirations to work abroad and continue learning about other people. With her free time during her field experience with other people she had met on the trip she went to other parts of the island to continue exploring and meeting more local people. They did things like snorkling, hiking and trying new foods!

When she is back at UCSD she will be particiapting in the Global Health Honors Thesis, in which I will share my learning from my time in Bali. As a global health major in her upcoming classes she also will bridge connections to my time in Bali to stregthen her learning and understanding of class material. Mackenzie expressed that "this was the most life changing experience and I feel like a completely different person than when I left to go to Bali in June. The amount of hands on learning I gained through experiences in Bali is something that will stay with me forever. This experience was the highlight of my college jorney thus far."