Kayla Erler is a UCSD Engineering major, studying at Imperial College in London, England. Her focus is Structural Engineering, which fits well with her aptitude for problem solving and her ambitions in design solutions and structural analysis. She is excited to "learn in an environment that has both modern innovations and older historical buildings for inspiration." Kayla believes that her study abroad will contribute to a more well-rounded, versatile engineering background which will be applicable in many countries. She cites the example of learning Eurocode (the main Engineering code in Europe), which will be invaluable for her career and is "an opportunity to see the differences between how things are done in the United Sates as opposed to Europe." In addition to her studies, Kayla has joined the civil engineering society and the horse-riding society. The latter meets once a week for lessons, including jumping and going for rides in the forest of Trent Park In London. Kayla plans to travel to Paris for winter break and Budapest in the spring.
Moa Smith (Sweden, 2019-20)
Moa Smith is a UCD double major in Political Science and American Studies, studying at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. Her mother immigrated to the United States from Sweden before her birth and Moa hadn't had the opportunity to meet her family in Sweden prior to studying abroad. During her year abroad, Moa will take almost all of her upper division political science classes and is "looking forward to taking these from a Swedish perspective, given the differences in the Swedish and U.S. political systems." She has finished her first class at Uppsala and got "the highest grade possible on the exam, which was a relief given how different the academic structure is here." She has an international group of friends that goes hiking and likes to fika (a daily Swedish snack/fellowship gathering) together. Thus far, Moa has taken the train to Stockholm, visited her grandparents in Hedemora, and traveled to Örebro. After her undergraduate studies, Moa is considering going to law school to study criminal law.
Devin Doss (China & Japan, 2019-20)
Devin Doss, a UCSD double major in Japanese and Chinese Studies, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He studied this summer at Peking University in Beijing, China in the Summer Chinese Language Intensive Program. He describes his time in Beijing as an enriching experience and his language development as rapid. His long term goal in pursuing languages is "to develop the ability to better and truly communicate with a broader variety of people." While in Japan, Devin hopes to join a club to better integrate into the school's social life on campus. Over his lifetime, he has played multiple instruments and sang in different choirs and performed in many venues. He writes: "I plan to explore a new aspect of music I have yet to greatly do much in; dance!" Following his studies abroad, Devin hopes to find an internship back home in San Diego related to his aspirations to work in translation and interpretation. Longer term, he would like to pursue a Master's in International Business so that he can use his language skills in a business context.
Minna Luu (France, 2019-20)
Minna Luu is a UCD International Relations major studying at Sciences Po in Paris, France. Minna is Vietnamese and grew up surrounded by her native culture in San Jose, CA, which has the highest population of Vietnamese people outside of Saigon. As a junior in high school, Minna was lucky enough to be able to live in Cannes as a foreign exchange student for two weeks. While those two weeks flew by quickly, the kindness from her host family and the amount of knowledge she gained was irreplaceable. She was also briefly able to visit Paris and fell in love with it; so much so that she promised herself that someday she would go back. Aside from school, Minna is a baking enthusiast and has been dubbed a “foodie” by many of her friends who know her passion for cooking and eating. She is also a fan of cinema, museums, and enjoys playing her violin from time to time. By the end of her year abroad, she hopes to come back more confident in her French and to have gained a more nuanced understanding of the French-Vietnamese culture she comes from. She writes of her initial experience abroad: "Surprisingly, even though it's only been two months, I feel quite comfortable in Paris and a little more like a local each day. I was even able to give a person directions in French about which metro line to take."
Tammy Mok (2019-20 Japan)
Tammy Mok, a UCSD Computer Science major with a Japanese Studies minor, is studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. During her year abroad, Tammy wants to conduct research and take language and culture classes to set her on the path to fluency in the language. In addition, Tammy "hopes to learn from the stories of those around me, explore a whole new culture, and grow a more global perspective." She notes that the class sizes are much smaller than UCSD and she is exploring clubs and circles (a more casual version of a club) with an eye towards joining the Aikido club and the Cooking circle. Amongst other keen early observations of cultural differences, she writes that "many people have said to beware of the lack of garbage cans on the street, but I didn't expect there to be almost a complete lack of them."