GRIP: Taipei City Government in Taipei, Taiwan If this internship has taught me anything, it’s that your location and environment shapes you in more ways than you think. Your environment doesn’t just shape your habits—it influences how you think, communicate, and even perceive yourself. This summer, I was an intern at Taipei City Government Department…
GRIP: Nursing Research in Dublin, Ireland I have nothing but gratitude for the GRIP experience still, looking back. There was nothing to be wasted out of all that I was able to engage in, from the work and research-related aspects, to the life skills fully realized and gained. To expand on the first aspect: this…
GRIP: The Tata Group This summer, I had the chance to live and work in India for ten weeks, marking not only my first internship abroad but also my very first time visiting the country. It was an experience that blended professional growth with personal discovery in ways I could never have anticipated. Landing in…
GRIP: Social Sciences and Humanities Research in Auckland, New Zealand During my first week in Auckland, New Zealand, our student cohort visited Waiheke Island, where we stayed at a Marae and participated in traditional rituals within Māori culture. To enter the Marae we needed to be introduced by our guide, who already formed part of…
GRIP: Social Sciences and Humanities Research in Auckland, New Zealand My internship in New Zealand took place at the University of Auckland, where I dove into historical research on German intervention in Samoa between 1900-1914. What began as a project on colonial dynamics quickly expanded backwards into the 1870s, as I traced how racial hierarchies…
GRIP: FinTech in Medellin One of the most interesting parts of Colombian culture shock this summer was my experience being in the Amazon’s rainforest and meeting its people. For four nights, I toured the river-region of the Colombian Amazonas department. There, I stayed in its capital city of ~35,000 and then briefly lived on an…
SA: University of Otago Sophia, one of the Semester Abroad Correspondents, shares her experience abroad during the Fall 2025 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed. Just in the past weekend alone, I’ve accomplished two things I never expected would be a part of my abroad journey:…
GRIP: Business Development in Singapore, Singapore $4 kaya toast with two soft boiled eggs and an iced teh. I had just landed in Singapore the evening before, and this breakfast was my first glimpse into everyday local life. I found myself at K88 Kopitiam, a humble little coffeehouse tucked into a food court off the…
GRIP: Media in Seoul, South Korea Welcoming. If I could choose one word to describe my summer experience in Korea, it would be welcoming. From getting recommendations on where to visit from my taxi driver to sharing a drink with the group of people next to me during Korean barbecue, many Koreans that I have…
GRIP: Sustainable Development in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The Pencil Group, based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is more than a traditional branding agency—it integrates strategic planning, creative design, and digital marketing to deliver solutions for our clients. As part of the internal planning team, I am contributing to projects focused on developing…