By Farheen Dayala
BroncoAthletics.com

POMONA, Calif. - From the classroom, to the basketball court, to a study abroad trip to Tanzania, Bryce Brady is a true student-athlete.

As a sophomore on the men's basketball team and a political science student at Cal Poly Pomona, Brady learns to compartmentalize his many roles as a student.

“Every opportunity you get, you should be grateful for," Brady says. "I'm grateful for every opportunity I get, so when I was in Tanzania I was 100 percent about observing the culture. Now that I'm back home, I'm all about being a better basketball player and I'm back at seeing what I can do for the team.”

While many students spent their summer in their hometown, Brady decided to seize what he called a “once in a lifetime opportunity” by traveling to Tanzania for three weeks with political science professor Dr. Renford Reese.

“Bryce was the most charismatic, engaging and the most receptive to the culture of anybody that I've ever taken on the trip,” Reese says. “From learning Swahili, asking people about their culture, trying different foods, Bryce had people laughing and it was extraordinary.”

In addition to learning about the cultural practices, Brady was also interested in knowing about the different aspects of life for the average Tanzanian citizen.

“Each of my students had to ask Tanzanians what they thought about American culture," Reese says. "One day, they had to ask about the impact of Americanization of the Tanzanian culture. You saw him thrive, you saw people around him, curious about the questions he was asking and the follow-up questions.”

Brady enjoyed asking questions because it helped him understand the world a little bit better.

“My intention behind the questions was to learn about the injustices throughout the world, whether that's the inequalities between the rich and poor in America, or whether it's oppression in Tanzania,” Brady says. “I wanted to talk to the average Tanzanian - not the professor or politician.”

In addition to spending time with Tanzanian locals, Brady and his study abroad class spent their time visiting different villages, tribes and sites such as museums and historical slave trading posts.

“Bryce went to the slave dungeon, so I'm sure it impacted him in many ways and on many dimensions, because he is contemplative,” Reese says. “I call Bryce 'Bunche,' as in Ralph Bunche. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and he won a Nobel Peace Prize and was an athlete like Bryce.”

Although Brady had expected to learn a lot about the culture of the Tanzanian people, he actually came home with much more.

“More than cultural difference, I learned that we have a lot in common with people no matter what part of the world you live in,” Brady says. “There's just certain things about being human that's just the same no matter where you are from.”

His experience was so life-changing, in fact, that it has changed the way Brady views himself.

“I see myself less as just an American and more of a human being and a citizen of the world,” Brady says.

Next summer, Brady will be making his way back to Tanzania to the University of Dar es Salaam to study Political Science and Swahili.