UC Santa Cruz Archives - UCEAP News and Features

All the Ways Study Abroad Tests and Strengthens Your Identity

by Jennifer Monroe | Apr 20, 2026 | Personal Growth, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA

Contributors: Keren Dror (UC Los Angeles), Annika Jorgensen (UC Berkeley), and Mercedes Lefiti (UC Santa Cruz) We all pack certain things for study abroad: maybe a favorite snack, a photo, a childhood stuffie to remind us of home. Each of us also carries something...

How To Talk With Your Family About Study Abroad

by Virginia O'Connor | Apr 20, 2026 | UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz

Contributors: Anai Ramos (UC Berkeley), Danella (Dani) Escalante-Regalado (UC Berkeley), and Emma Baltadano-Bañales (UC Santa Cruz), 2024 blog writing contestants You know your friends and family care about you, and their concerns come from a place of love and...

Beyond the Semester: Why a Year Abroad Changes Everything

by Virginia O'Connor | Mar 30, 2026 | Australia and Oceania, Choosing a Program, UC Merced, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA

Contributors: Aliyah Flamson Rubalcava (UC Santa Cruz), Elias Veran (UC Santa Barbara), Sarah Schecter (UC Los Angeles), Shaun Colegado (UC Merced), and Sophia Chang (UC San Diego), 2024 blog writing contestants UCEAP alums agree that when it comes to studying...

How to Grow Confidence Abroad: Lessons from My Barcelona Garden

by Virginia O'Connor | Nov 25, 2025 | Personal Growth, UC Santa Cruz

By Brooke McKenna Taylor (UC Santa Cruz), studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain If there is one thing known about me, it is that I love the color green. I love the green found at my home university, in the redwoods, in the seaweed by the seashore, and in the rolling...

Why We Went: Seven Different Reasons to Study Abroad

by Virginia O'Connor | Sep 19, 2025 | Choosing a Program, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA

Contributors: Elina Dern (UC Irvine), Finn Kopczynski (UC Santa Cruz), Amber Rivera-Munoz (UC Los Angeles), Harry Shih (UC San Diego), Sarah Zhang (UC Berkeley), Natalia Hackbarth (UCSD) and London Perelli (UC Berkeley), 2024 blog writing contestants Why would anyone...

How a Broken Wrist in Barcelona Taught Me Resilience

by Virginia O'Connor | Aug 12, 2025 | Health and Wellness, UC Santa Cruz

By Lila Franco (UC Santa Cruz) Growing up, I was always a cautious kid. I recall frequently mentioning that I had never broken a bone throughout my life. I have also always been a very superstitious person, frantically searching for the nearest piece of wood to knock...

« Older Entries

Study Abroad Program: Lund University, Sweden
Program Location: Lund, Sweden
Other Countries Visited: Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria,
Hungary, and Norway
Home University: UC Berkeley
Major: Bioengineering
Year: Junior (Graduating Spring 2017)

Alison Long is a rising senior studying tissue engineering and drug delivery at UC Berkeley. She loves spending time outdoors, hiking, biking and playing soccer. As a nature enthusiast, her travels involved exploring national parks and canvassing tulip festivals around Europe. In her free time, Alison enjoys painting and watching cooking competitions on the Food Network.

[fusion_button link="/contact/" color="custom" size="small" stretch="no" type="flat" shape="square" target="_self" title="VIEW ALL POSTS" accent_color="#00a5e5" accent_hover_color="#474747" bevel_color="" border_width="2px" icon="" icon_position="left" icon_divider="no" modal="" animation_type="bounce" animation_direction="up" animation_speed="1" animation_offset="" alignment="center" class="story-submissions" id=""]SUBMIT YOUR OWN TRAVEL GUIDE[/fusion_button]