Contact Ask Me About… Students should ask me about navigating study abroad as an adoptee returning to my birth country while still learning the language. My semester at Fudan University in Shanghai was not just about classes, but it was a personal journey. As a Chinese adoptee raised in the US, I looked like many…
Contact Ask Me About… As I’m already studying in a country that isn’t my own as an international student, people could ask why I’d choose to go abroad again. For me, each new environment pushes me to re-learn how I operate, from the way I approach assignments, to how I communicate in group settings, to…
Contact Ask Me About… I’d love for other students to ask me how I built real connections with local communities while studying abroad in Beijing, China, and Braga, Portugal. In Beijing, during the Penn Global Seminar program, I didn’t just stick to the classroom. I joined calligraphy workshops, savored traditional music, and explored vibrant food…
Contact Ask Me About… My Experience Abroad Although not directly related to my field of study, visiting the National Wildlife Institute of India helped me think of the way in which scientific research is conducted around the world. Due to the nature of the institute, researchers follow the guidelines and base their frameworks on UN…
Contact Ask Me About… My experience in Tamil Nadu, India was simultaneously the most challenging and rewarding time of my life. As my first time traveling abroad alone, I navigated adapting to a different cultural landscape, and working within a healthcare system fundamentally different from the U.S. The most immediate challenge was the language barrier;…
Contact Ask Me About… Within six months, I went from Tokyo to Dehradun, India—two places that could not be more different. Tokyo runs on precision: trains are on time to the second, schedules are followed exactly, and even rush-hour crowds move in quiet order. Dehradun is the opposite: life moves at its own pace, plans…
Contact Ask Me About… My Penn Abroad experience through the PGS, Policy Task Force on U.S.–China Relations, was unique because it reversed the typical study-abroad path. Instead of learning a language while abroad, I advanced my Mandarin beforehand in anticipation of the trip. Taking Chinese II that semester gave me structure, but the upcoming program pushed…
Contact Ask Me About… During my internship in Vietnam, I wasn’t just working full-time at Nuoa.io— I was also juggling a Penn online course (Gods, Ghosts, and Monsters) and my role as Global Director of Marketing for a nonprofit. Each responsibility operated in a different time zone, and each demanded real attention and energy. With…
Contact Ask Me About… Student accommodations. This opportunity was one of the various paths I could’ve chosen in terms of housing in the grand city of Dublin. I was stuck between a homestay, which allows me to be culturally immersed with a family that is already well settled in the neighborhoods of Dublin; or living…
Contact Ask Me About… Studying abroad is undeniably life-changing, but it also brings moments that can be difficult to hear about or experience firsthand. I would like to share my answer to the question: “What is a situation that was emotionally taxing, yet ultimately changed me?” When I was in Cape Town, I witnessed the…