Personal Growth Stories
Food Experiences that Defined My Mediterranean Study Abroad Experience
Journey through Florence, Rome, and Barcelona as Yvonne Liu (UC Berkeley) shares all the ways that Mediterranean cuisine and culture intersect to create transformative study abroad moments that reinforce tradition, connection, and discovery.
6 Tips to Overcome Impostor Syndrome on Study Abroad
What does it take to shake off impostor syndrome and shush your inner critic? Read the practical steps that Natalie Glennon (UC Santa Barbara), a financially challenged first-generation student, implemented to overcome impostor syndrome and make the most of her study abroad experience in the Netherlands.
Big Ben and Little Wins: Lessons from a Brief Summer in London
What can you get out of a short academic program abroad? Turns out, you can learn a lot in three weeks! Divyanshi Saha (UC San Diego) says studying abroad is not just about academics – it’s about stepping out of your comfort zone, making memories, and discovering who you are in the process.
It’s the Firenze We Make Along the Way
Trey Timberlake (UC Berkeley), a gay man from Palm Springs, California, challenged his childhood feelings of isolation and otherness as well as his fear of masculinity while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. See why Trey describes study abroad as the most transformative experience of his life.
Finding Your Way on Study Abroad by Embracing Abundance
If you lived in the same town your whole life, would you be excited or terrified by the idea of leaving it all behind to study abroad in another country? Both is probably the correct answer, and Morgan Taylor-Cohen (UC Los Angeles) says you have to embrace abundance to get you through to the other side.
An Introvert Overseas: A Shy Person’s Guide to Studying Abroad
If you’re a shy, introverted person, could you travel almost 6,000 miles away from home to study abroad on your own? Francesca Casimiro (UC Berkeley) did and you can too. Read her story and learn how you can too.
What Four Months in Paris Taught Me: Lessons in Culture, Politics, Society and Self-Discovery
Gigi Engalla (UC Berkeley) asked a well-traveled stranger for advice on the American study abroad experience and received a prophetic response. The lessons she learned about culture, politics and society on four months in Paris lead to unexpected self-discovery.
Furthering my mother’s legacy through study abroad
Why study abroad for a year? Typically, a full year abroad is the cheapest option – something that Katia Griffin (UC San Diego) learned when she decided to further her mother’s legacy by living abroad as she did.
Seoul Searching: Lifelong Lessons from Studying Abroad in South Korea
Study abroad is an experience that teaches you beyond what you think you will learn. It stretches you, transforms you, and shakes you out of your comfort zone. See the most important lifelong lessons Nico Shin (UC Santa Barbara) learned while studying abroad in South Korea.
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