What were some of your biggest takeaways from your international experience?
Some of my biggest takeaways from my international experience would have to be the strong connections I made and the strengthening of my sense of independence. I never thought I would have made so many lifelong friends who all come from so many different countries around the world, brought together by such a special experience in a snapshot of our time in Korea. It really makes me look forward to the future in which I know I will see each and every one of them again, but maybe in a different place and time in our lives. In addition, my ability to adapt to not only living abroad, but moving off campus second semester on my own proved to be one of the best decisions I had made in really putting myself out there in hope to learn and see much more. After having to move a few times, my ability to adapt and live comfortably really strengthened my sense of independence and ability to adapt to changing environments.
What advice would you pass along to other interested students considering studying abroad?
DO IT. The things you learn not only about yourself, but about the world around you has proved to be so fundamental in shaping my perspectives and outlook on so many different things. Once you muster the courage to really put yourself in uncomfortable situations where you are forced to learn and grow as an individual, the lessons you take away will always stay with you.
Is there anything you would do or plan differently based on your experience?
Not at all. At first, I considered studying abroad a year before. In hindsight, I would have had a full academic year with no interruptions or cancellations of any kind. However, I also would have never sought to seek out new ways to travel and experience more in the place I was living. After this past semester I am confidently able to say that my first semester was the perfect study abroad experience, but my second semester was me living in a city and country that I learned so much more about after stepping even more outside my comfort zone. I ended up traveling, exploring, and meeting even more people who turned out to be some of my closest friends. The things I wasn’t able to do this semester only forced me to find other things to do and see, and in the end, made my experience so much more special.
Have you considered going abroad again or researching international internships and careers?
ABSOLUTELY. Being able to do and see so much while making so many new international connections has opened my eyes so much and I cannot wait to relive this experience in the future, only this time, somewhere completely different!
How do you plan to “pay it forward” to the greater local community?
I would love to share my experience to anyone who is interested in study abroad in hopes to help ease any preexisting doubts or nerves that often come with taking on such an intimidating journey. There is just so much that comes with living abroad and the different lifestyles you end up adapting to which can be quite tricky to navigate in the beginning, however, I hope that my experience can serve as different lessons and ways to best adapt and prepare for whatever the world has in store.
In reflection of your experience before, during, and after your program, can you put into words what this experience has meant to you?
I went into this experience with a clean slate with little to no expectations of any kind. If anything, I was more curious about how such change would impact me and how I would go about studying abroad in another country. Granted, this last semester has been challenging for just about everyone, due to the transition to online learning, but I found that by this time I had really figured out what I wanted to gain from my international experience. After my first semester, I realized that even among other exchange students, it was still just as easy to fall into another safety net by surrounding yourself with other people most similar to you. So, I decided to take more steps to really immersing myself in the culture and language around me and really take advantage of living abroad and being surrounded by a language I had been studying for the past year. I learned over time what I needed to do to not only make the most of my experience, but the ways in which I can also develop and maintain other connections that could best help me in the future.
We have multiple identities that cross the boundaries of race, gender, sexuality, class, age, ethnicity, religion, ability, veteran status, citizenship, and more. Describe your experience exploring identity in your host community. If you studied in a country where you reconnected with your heritage, what was that like? Is it what you expected? How were you treated by locals in that country? Do you feel like it was a homecoming or did you feel out of place, or perhaps both?
Prior to studying abroad, I had felt very secure in my identity and was curious how living in a country I share so much family history with would affect me. However, while I was there I never gave much thought to my Korean heritage as while being abroad, I could comfortably just identify with being American. I never felt as though my heritage plays a strong role in my identity, as over time I learned to realize the importance of the people you choose to surround yourself by and the role your family plays in shaping so much of your identity as well. I found that when you’re abroad, you can learn more about other languages and cultures, but I never felt as though I was defined such when in Korea since I still felt just as different among other Koreans. Although I was able to learn so much more about the culture and history I share my heritage with, I still know that I will always be more of a foreigner in Korea like anyone else, and that is perfectly fine by me. In the States I am perceived as being more Asian than American, and yet in Korea I was perceived as more American than Asian. I am Korean and I am American, but I would never identify as Korean-American. People in Korea treated me as more of a foreigner until they learned I was half-Asian, and after that, they decided that I was more Korean than American. In the end it really doesn’t matter to me. What someone chooses to label you as or first perceive you as really doesn’t matter to me because what I can control is showcasing the person I really am, regardless of labels and identities that can often falsely make up ones personality. I would rather just be seen as me more than anything else someone wants to see me label me as because in the end, what real difference does it make?
Did you study in a host country where you felt or had more or less freedom as a person of your identity/ies? What has this experience been like?
Although I feel as though I have never been more free to do things and travel around the country with ease, in certain areas I did find myself face-to-face with others who might have never seen someone like me before and I quickly had to learn the best ways to go about these sort of uncomfortable situations. Being labeled as a “foreigner”, accompanied by the long list of stereotypes that coincide with this term, had been a challenge in the beginning for sure. However, as time went on I became more adjusted to certain comments and slurs used by others around me and learned to simply go about my own business as usual.
If you studied abroad and spent time with other US students who were also studying abroad, were you experiencing anything unanticipated related to your identity/ies?
I tried to stay away from other students from the same country as me since I knew that it would be very easy to just surround myself with people who share so much similar culture with me. However, the other US students I found myself being very good friends with were very similar to friends I tend to surround myself with back home. More independent, head-strong, and motivated to learn and make the most out of our study abroad experience in contrast to other people who might not share the same outlook towards the same experience.
This may be the first time you lived abroad as a guest in another country—a country for which you may or may not have citizenship. How did it feel to be “the foreigner”? If you hold US citizenship, did you observe that your citizenship is treated differently than others?
In Korea, if you are not Korean, then you are a foreigner. This comes with so many more challenges and issues in itself, but from my experience, I became quite adjusted to it. Since so many people lack a lot of global knowledge and would ask me fairly stereotypical questions regarding my nationality, it only made it more fun to share my real experiences and shut down any false information or generalizations many people had. Among other foreigners, it was definitely easy to spot other Americans or differentiate between them and say Europeans, but again, this made it even more enjoyable when talking with other people and sharing different ideas and elements of different cultures.