Penn Abroad Ambassador Tasmiah Haque

Program:

• PGS:  Tourism, Sustainability and Local Impact in Indonesia

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As a FGLI student, traveling abroad was something very inaccessible for me and my family. Traveling in general was always far too expensive, and my parents only ever traveled during family emergencies. This is why I value PGS and Penn Abroad so much. Being able to partake in a PGS course has allowed me to experience international travel for the sake of learning and growing, and I was able to enjoy traveling without having to worry about affordability or a family obligation/crisis. My PGS trip was my first international experience, and I was able to learn so much about a new part of the world because of it, so I am immensely grateful. I think it is important for all FGLI students to make the most of Penn's global opportunities and take advantage of how easy and accessible traveling becomes through Penn.

My Experience Abroad:

I've always been interested in learning about the world and its different cultures, and I came to Penn with a desire to integrate that interest in my studies. I wanted to seek out as many global opportunities as I could when I got to the school. My global experience through PGS helped me do exactly that and more. I was able to learn a lot about the Indonesian culture, language, and economy during my travels, and this contributed to my exploration of Economics and Linguistics as potential majors. In terms of economics, I was able to experience the workings of an economy outside of the US and contextualize the economic concepts we learned in class in terms of a new country. One of the coolest things was understanding exchange rates through actual exchanges between US and Indonesian currencies while traveling. In terms of Linguistics, I learned about how culture can impact a language in my classes, and through my travels, I was able to understand how the Indonesian language was formed through Arabic, Sanskrit, and Dutch influence because of their complex history. It was all very interesting and valuable to take the lessons I learned in my classrooms and contextualize it within the real world.

Other Highlights:

Traveling to Bali was incredible for so many reasons. For starters, I was able to learn so much about the history of Balinese and Indonesian culture through cultural site visits and conversations with locals and experts. We visited a museum of Balinese culture and history, and the curator himself showed us around the museum and described all of the artwork and artifacts. It was incredible. Another wonderful experience was being able to meet Indonesian students in Bali. Through them, I was able to learn about what studying outside of the US is like, and we were able to talk about our respective cultures and learn from each other. I was also able to become friends with them, and they showed us around to their favorite hangout spots in Bali. The best part of this travel experience was being able to bond with my classmates. They were all individuals whom I’d never met before taking my PGS course, but by the end of the trip, I felt a special connection to them all. Many of them taught me to go out of my comfort zone and explore while in Bali, and I appreciated that a lot because otherwise I would have been scared to leave the hotel. The trip altogether was so special to me, and it is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.