Blog Archives

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Spirituality in Healthcare

By: Nora Hennessy, Nursing ’21 Trinity College Dublin – Dublin, Ireland The first day of work I attended a conference on Spirituality in Healthcare in Ireland. It was so great. There were many excellent lecturers and guest speakers, including Janet Quinn, who is a major mindfulness speaker in the US. My favorite part was the…

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Five Tips – Advice from a GRIP Returnee

By: Sophia Simon, CAS ’19 Sophia on San Cristobal Island Galapagos Education and Research Alliance – San Cristobal Island, Ecuador 1. Try all of the new foods that you can. If you see someone eating or ordering something that you don’t recognize, get it too! Not only will you be trying something different, but you might find…

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Please Talk About Politics & Religion

By: Ryan Bender, CAS ’21 GRIP Intern – Buenos Aires, Argentina There’s a bit of household American wisdom that goes something like this: “Friends who want to stay friends don’t discuss religion or politics.” While it is polite to be mindful of others’ sensitivities, this wouldn’t get you very far in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentines…

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Unity in Diversity

By: Cristina Pogorevici, Wharton ’21 GRIP Intern, The OPEN Classroom – Hong Kong  As a Romanian student in the Wharton School of Business, I’m always a minority: East-European, First Generation, coming from an ex-communist country. As an intern at The OPEN Classroom in Hong Kong I was aware that once again I was going to feel…

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Happy Traveling!

By: Benjamin Weimer, CAS ’19 Rome, Italy GRIP Intern, U.S. State Department – Rome, Italy Here are five tips for making the most of your time abroad: Wander the Streets – This summer when I first got to Rome, I didn’t know a single person in the city. Instead of staying in my apartment, I…

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Looking Back

By: Anders Zhou, Wharton ’21 Skyline of Shanghai Diversified Agency Services (DAS) – Shanghai, China In two words, Shanghai was both an experience and a throwback. When people ask me how my summer went, those are the two words I usually base my answer off of. I’m really thankful that Penn Abroad allowed me the opportunity…

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What I Know Now

By: Stephanie Tian, Wharton ’21 Stephanie (center right) with fellow interns in Mexico Ashoka – Mexico City, Mexico My internship this summer has been an experience that, now sitting on my couch at home, I truly miss. The first few days back I kept doing the thing where I wake up and am confused by…

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Another Window from Which to View the World

By: Rebecca Schleimer, CAS ’20 Cadence Translate – Beijing, China The fact that I’m studying Chinese language at Penn has certainly enhanced my experience interning here in Beijing this summer. I personally think that in choosing to intern abroad, knowing a bit of the language of the country in which you are interning allows for…

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Inti Raymi

By: Mary Tilyou, CAS ’19 LAVA Project – Galápagos, Ecuador It may not be immediately apparent why I chose a photo of me cuddling a rooster as the best representation of my time in Galápagos. However, the moment this photo was taken is one of my best memories from the summer. It exemplifies the way…

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Empowering One Village on Plums

By: Kevin Yang, CAS ’20 On top of a mountain where Sanhuali are harvested Keru – Shanghai, China Rural China takes mountain climbing quite literally. Three steps up and I realized this was going to be different from what I or my mentee had expected. Our steps were soil and mud. Small plants with razor-sharp leaves…