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…
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…