What’s a Swazi?
My name is Timothy Boycott and I reign from the beautiful Kingdom of Swaziland! This is no joke. Swaziland is a small but wonderfully diverse country located in southern Africa. I have lived there my whole life, up until last August when I decided to start a new journey here in the US. You’ll notice from the image that Swaziland is, by no exaggeration, quite lacking in land size and is about the size of the state of New Jersey.
So one might be wondering why the USA? Why Vassar? And why leave the beautiful, peaceful comfort of my home country? There are several reasons and I’ll just touch on a few. I love my home and leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. However, I truly felt that it was something necessary to go through because, at the end of the day, this was going to be an amazing educational experience. Not just because I would be getting a great education but I also would be challenging myself to explore new parts of the world — new cultures and ways of life.
There is a part of me that thrives on that sense of adventure. I had gone to a world-renowned international school in Swaziland and much of the school’s philosophy concerned peace, cultural and social integration, and innovative, responsible thinking that would produce capable leaders of tomorrow’s world. Having spent seven years in such an environment, I wanted nothing more than to find a college that was just as dynamic and that challenged the individual as well as the world. Vassar has a history of being at the forefront of social change. Being the first institution to offer tertiary education to woman in the United States was a mighty starting point and representative of the revolutionary ideals that Vassar was founded on. I saw a lot of parallels between the person I had become, as well as the person I wanted to become, and all that Vassar had to offer.
On a more practical level, I wanted to go to an intimate, nurturing college. This led me directly to considering liberal arts colleges. The hands on learning and type of personal education that one receives at a liberal arts college like Vassar are invaluable. One can develop genuine relationships with faculty members and this allows a much more inspiring, meaningful learning process. I have found a lot of what I hoped to find in Vassar and I am reminded from time to time that there is much to explore and develop in my time here.
As I mentioned, I am a freshman. I have not yet declared a major, but I am heading in the direction of the natural sciences. I play guitar and enjoy having jam sessions with my fellows on my hall. I play intramural tennis and volleyball and spend a good amount of time hiking around New York State with the Vassar outing club. I am involved with two campus organizations: The Vassar Haiti Project and The Vassar Greens.
In my blogs I hope to give an interesting and insightful perspective of Vassar to prospective students. I hope to promote the idea of Vassar as a college that is not only part of the United States, but also the wider world.
