PhD Students from St. Thomas University Explore AUC, Egypt: 'The Hospitality Was Phenomenal'

PhD students from St. Thomas University visited AUC for two weeks during the summer as part of the University's faculty-led program. Touring campus, attending classes and visiting sites around Cairo — including the pyramids, Islamic and Coptic Cairo, traditional craft markets such as Khan El Khalili and the Children’s Cancer Hospital 57357 — the students carried with them invaluable life lessons on culture and humanity.

“The hospitality has been phenomenal. Everyone’s been so welcoming. We went to a koshari restaurant, and the server showed us how to make it and was very hospitable. I’ve studied abroad before in India, so I had that kind of connection. I think the welcoming culture here has been something that I was very pleasantly surprised by. I am studying student affairs and work in career services, and here in Egypt, I'm specifically looking at the unemployment of young people. So I'm really excited to bring back what I've learned to support students who might face similar struggles in the U.S.”

Anna Smith 

“The campus is so beautiful. I love being here and walking around. Egypt feels like a very faraway place from my home in Minnesota, so being here and seeing how Egyptians live alongside what we studied about Pharaonic history when we were little kids is really valuable. Coming to have an experience like this and be able to stay for two weeks not just as a tourist but interacting with people is very important so that when we go back home, we can remind each other that the world is much bigger than what we see every day and that people are people wherever you go — to really remember the humanity in all of us.”

Courtney Cavalier

Find out more about AUC's study-abroad programs here.