Katia Griffin is a third-year Chemical Engineering student at UC San Diego studying at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She grew up in Penn Valley, a rural town northwest of Lake Tahoe. Her parents volunteered for the Peace Corps in Russia before she was born, and, after her mother passed away, Katia wanted to continue her legacy of international work. During high school, she participated in a foreign exchange to South Australia for five months. She also journeyed to Croatia for a marine conservation excursion in 2021, where she was able to collect trash from the seafloor and make international friends. She is hoping to get involved in climate research while abroad in the Netherlands to further her goal of becoming a climate scientist. In Utrecht, Katia is living with ten roommates from all over the world: three other Americans, as well as Spanish, Turkish, Canadian, Irish, German, English, and French. She writes, “It has been so interesting to hear about each other’s culture, bond over being in a foreign place, and cook together.” Katia writes beautifully about her experiences abroad on her blog.
Thomas Bayne (The Netherlands, 2017-18)
Thomas Bayne, a Political Science major, is studying at University College Maastricht in the Netherlands. A native of Northern California, he came to UCSD after a period of pursuing artistic ventures in Los Angeles. He hopes to expand his knowledge of international political systems during his year abroad and bring such understanding back to the U.S. in hopes of creating a more efficient U.S. system. Outside of academics, Thomas enjoys film, literature and hiking. He has made trips to Budapest, Dublin, Amsterdam and Brussels thus far. Thomas writes that “the EAP experience has widened my idea of not only what profession I could enter but where I would practice that profession.” He has been hired by several organizations to photograph and report on events in Maastrict and hopes to start an internship in the field of journalism during the summer. He writes, “None of this would have been possible without the kindness and opportunity afforded to me by the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship.”
Sunny Young (The Netherlands, 2014-15)
Sunny Young is pursuing a degree in Psychology and is studying this year at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In San Diego, she has tutored students of all ages at a local math tutoring center and worked with preschoolers as a teacher’s aide at the UCSD Mesa Child Development Center. She intends to pursue a Masters degree in Social Psychology and continue working with students. Sunny believes that her year abroad will “teach her the values of diversity, acceptance, and understanding.” She wrote to us about a hitchhiking trip she took from Utrecht to Zaragoza. Her university has a student committee that hosts hitchhiking competitions twice a year. They form groups of two or three, pick a destination, and see which group arrives first. Sunny writes that “It was very safe and I met so many nice and interesting people along the way. It really restores faith in humanity.” She felt the experience taught her about patience, finding ways to keep her spirits up, how to make people feel relaxed and comfortable, and how to approach people so as not to scare them off.
Laura Summers (The Netherlands, 2008-09)
Laura Summers, a Linguistics major with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies, is attending Universiteit College in Utrecht. She has studied Muslim immigration into the European Union and wants to pursue a career aiding Muslim immigrants adapt to their new lives in Western nations. Laura has already taken a volunteer job in Utrecht working with five refugee women (from places like Togo and Albania) and their children. In San Diego, Laura lived and worked at the International House fulfilling a desire to meet international students and scholars and learn about their cultures. She also sang in a choir and likes to play intramural volleyball. Since arriving in Holland, Laura has enjoyed visiting relatives in Middelburg, and traveling to Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Prague with a group of other exchange students. She had great things to say about the efficiency of the rail system, but was happy to be back on a bike in Utrecht upon her return. Laura writes that “it wouldn’t be a truly Dutch experience without biking to town in the rain.” She is taking courses in Linguistics, Art History, Dutch, and Development Studies. The latter involves discussing the geographical development of nations and its social and economic impact. She is looking forward to the special Dutch St. Nicholas holiday when she will sing the Dutch song “Sinterklaas Kapoentje” that her grandmother taught her as a child.