Jennifer Rivas, a Communication major with a minor in Environmental Science, is studying at the University of Lyon in Lyon, France. She grew up bilingual in Los Angeles and French is her third language. At UCSD, she has worked as a project developer for the university, teaching students and staff how to live in an eco-friendly manner through interactive games and activities. She has also performed as part of UCSD Dancesport, the School’s competitive Latin-ballroom dance team. In Lyon, she hopes to get involved at local food banks and farmer’s markets to engage with the French population and understand how everyday interactions affect sustainable food choices. She plans to pursue a career in environmental policy after finishing her degree at UCSD. She writes that the French university system is quite different from California, highlighted by different lecture styles and greater individual responsibility for students. She writes that “a lot of students are politically active and aware, and I think they hold their education system to a high standard.” Jennifer particularly enjoyed a trip to Beaujolais, the well-known wine region outside of Lyon. She was introduced to a French couple who walked her through the long history of the land and their unique bread and wine making processes.
Sophia Osborne (Japan 2016-17)
Sophie Osborne, an International Studies/History major with a minor in Japanese Studies, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. A native of Sacramento, California, her family spent four years living in Tokyo during her childhood. She has focused her studies on spaces of multicultural intersection such as ethnic relations. At Waseda, Sophie will draw on her knowledge of Korean culture to pursue independent research of a Zainichi (ethnically Korean Japanese) neighborhood. At UCSD, Sophie worked part-time as a student lead on two specialty food trucks and was a staff writer for the Opinion section of the school newspaper. She has volunteered at the Chinese Historical Museum, where she worked to revamp the walking tour of the Asian-Pacific Heritage District. At Waseda, Sophie has started classes, settled in her dorm, enjoys frequenting a cat café “where you can sip coffee while petting the store’s many feline residents”, and joined a club that practices Nihon Buyou (traditional Japanese dance). She writes that she is amazed by “the contrast between the informal, everyday slang of my Japanese friends and the centuries old language of the traditional dance they practice.”
Vincent Yu (Japan, 2015-16)
Vincent Yu is a Computer Engineering major with a minor in Japanese Studies studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. In high school he built a headphone amplifier from scratch and took programming courses in community college before transferring to UCSD. At UCSD, he is a member of the Japanese Student Association, participates in Eta Kappa Nu (an electrical engineering honor society), and trains and races on his road bike with the UCSD Cycling team. In Japan, he went on an outing with the Tohoku University Cycling Club to Fukushima, where they climbed a mountain so high it was snowing at the summit. He recently passed his second interview for an internship with Google Tokyo. Vincent writes of his early experiences in Japan: “making every moment count, this is how I should live my life, abroad or not. What a wonderful lesson this trip has taught me even in just the beginning of the program.”
Megan Bright (Germany 2015-16)
Megan Bright, a Political Science major with a minor in German Studies, is studying at the Free University in Berlin, Germany. She is an active member of the UCSD Pre-Law Society. In high school, Megan was a member of the Mock Trial Club and played basketball and volleyball. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through preparing locally sourced, organic, plant-based meals. She is happiest when “hiking through a forest or nature reserve or enjoying the sun on the beach.” Since arriving in Germany, Megan has been able to take trips to Croatia, Amsterdam and Budapest. Her housemates are from Germany, France and Argentina. In her first term, she is taking two political science courses taught in English, a course about the dividing of Berlin in German and German language courses. By studying abroad, Megan hopes to “immerse herself in another culture and expand her language skills.”
Daniel Lee (Japan, 2015-16)
Daniel Lee is pursuing a degree in Computer Science with minors in Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Computing and is studying this year at Keio University in Japan. Daniel was born and raised in Taiwan and studied at an international school during his high school years. Daniel believes in the importance of understanding the digital world holds a deep passion for computer science. He is currently interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning and believes that the mastering of this technology will bring humans a step further into the future. Since Japan is a hub of technology and a leader in artificial intelligence, he plans to take courses in artificial intelligence and big data during his year abroad. Daniel also enjoys the arts. He started playing piano when he was four, beginning with classical training and progressing later on to rock, pop and accompaniment. He would like to try composing in the future. Daniel started drawing at a young age and enjoys doing sketches, watercolors, acrylic, painting, and digital art. He believes that “being multi-faceted will help me gain a better understanding of the world and the people around me.” He is excited about his year in Japan and the opportunity to immerse himself in a different culture.
Mary Ma (China, 2015-16)
Mary Ma, a Political Science/International Relations and Chinese Studies major, is studying at Peking University in Beijing, China. She is ethnically Chinese, was born in Singapore, and calls Northern California home. She has traveled across Asia with her family. Mary writes, “Growing up straddling an individualistic American culture and a collective Chinese culture has given her a great curiosity about understanding people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.” That interest was further influenced by travels in Uganda and throughout Europe. At UCSD, she volunteered as an English tutor for international students. Mary has played the cello for ten years in various music ensembles and has a great interest in music. Mary plans to pursue a career in human rights law and is looking forward to deepening her understanding of Chinese culture while expanding her global perspective during her year abroad. In Bejing, Mary has joined the university news corps, where she does English reporting and Chinese to English translation for the Peking University Office of International Relations. She also got an internship at TEDxBeijing and has been working hard preparing for their annual December event. Mary writes, “I’m really glad that I came to China for a year and not just a semester. I’ve gained so many invaluable skills in addition to Chinese and now have clearer goals for my future and career.”
Christian Koguchi (Japan, 2014-15)
Christian Koguchi is an Engineering major studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. After graduation, he plans to work in the fields of signal processing and communications. Apart from his interest in engineering, Christian has a passion for travelling and learning about foreign cultures. He grew up in a family of Japanese-Peruvians, speaking fluent English and Spanish and has travelled to many countries such as Peru, Costa Rica, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Austria. He has put his language skills to use in the international dorm at Tohoku. He writes of his interactions with the Japanese students, “I’ve learned this phrase called Inshin Denshin. Perhaps the exact spelling may be off, but I was told the meaning of it is like ‘understanding without words,’ and it literally means something like ‘transmitted from the mind to heart.’ It’s what my friends and I have been saying to describe our communication.”
Austin Pukasamsombut (Japan, 2014-15)
Varanon Austin Pukasamsombut, an Electrical Engineering major, is studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. He is passionate about robotics and electronics and chose Tohoku University in order to perform research under Professor Kazuya Yoshida. He believes that this experience will help him achieve his “dream of becoming an inventor; an engineer who designs and creates new devices to benefit society.” Austin has been involved in robotics since high school, when he led a team to the VEX world robotics championships. At UCSD he joined the IEEE Micromouse project team and was able to make a robot that navigated autonomously through a maze. He arrived in Japan this summer and spent two months in a language immersion program at Senshu University, and then another month traveling with friends and family. He stayed with a friend in Kobe for a month and wrote that the experience “gave me a chance to experience life in a Japanese household, where my friend’s parents would always cook homemade Japanese meals for dinner and I would be able to sleep in a tatami room on a futon bed.” He writes that Sendai, nicknamed the City of Trees, is truly a beautiful place filled with forests and mountains. Christian Koguchi (another Borton scholar – see below) lives next door to Austin in the international dorms and they “push each other to go out and explore our surroundings so that we can enjoy our time here in Japan to the fullest.”
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.
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15)
Shelby Newallis, an Italian Studies major with a minor in Communications, is studying at the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy. She believes in being well-rounded, which for her means “dabbling in several different fields to compile an array of skills that help make me as an individual perceptive, detail-oriented and more passionate overall.” She is most interested in writing, traveling and learning about other cultures and thinks that her year abroad in Italy will help with her future goal of working in the creative, culture and/or culinary industry. Since arriving in Italy, she has managed a busy schedule of classes and work, and traveled to Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia. In Bologna, she has an apartment in the Borgo La Croce area and passes the Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio on her way to class. Shelby has gotten involved in the community by volunteering for an organization that helps teach English to Italian children in interactive ways, and babysits for two little girls who she teaches English vocabulary by playing games and doing arts and crafts. She has also started an internship with Flash Giovani, a website that provides information about life and happenings in Bologna, helping with English translation and writing articles. She writes that, “I feel like a different person than who I was in June. I feel like I have a new sense of patience, understanding and empathy that comes with traveling and learning about a new place and culture.”
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14)
Rebecca Korff is an International Studies and Economics double major studying in Barcelona, Spain. She is from the Bay Area and has traveled to Brazil many times to visit her mother’s family. Rebecca is an animal lover and an avid runner who hopes to run a marathon one day. She writes that her mission is “to share the power of traveling, the power of opening one’s mind, and viewing life through many lenses.” Receiving a Borton Scholarship made her feel recognized and understood and she hopes one day to also create a scholarship foundation. She writes about the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship program: “I do not believe there is a better way to prolong his vision and his memory than through helping others.”
Andrew Kubal (England, 2013-14)
Andrew Kubal, an Electrical Engineering major, is studying at Imperial College in London, England. He was exposed to engineering from an early age by his father, an engineer. Andrew is living on campus, just south of Hyde Park, and describes London as “a big city, not as big as everyone says it is, with bustling streets and nightlife.” He is most excited about the perspective expanding potential of studying abroad. Andrew writes, “engineering is centered on not only understanding complex mathematics and physics concepts, but also on conjuring a novel approach to a problem.” Exposure to foreign points of view “will provide me with new tools in approaching my studies and in my future work.” He joined Imperial’s Erasmus club and so far has visited Edinburgh, Oxford, and Cambridge. He has plans to travel to Germany, Holland and the French Alps.
Brenda Vega (Spain, 2013-14)
Brenda Vega is pursuing a degree in Human Development and is studying this year at the University of Granada in Spain. She is a first generation college student who wants to “give back to her community by influencing the younger generation to pursue higher education.” Brenda has served on the board of Hermanas Unidas de UCSD, been actively involved in a variety of community programs in San Diego, and traveled to Amman, Jordan in the summer of 2012 in a quest to acquire international experience. She writes that “Granada has a very traditional feeling and the historical presence of the Arab culture is very much alive here, although the Catholic religion is very prominent as well.” Her experiences thus far have allowed her to “learn not only about Spanish culture, but also about how intertwined other cultures are to it.” Brenda has been able to travel to London and has plans to travel to Morocco.
Jessica Pham (France, 2013-14)
Jessica Pham, a Political Science major, is studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) in Paris, France. Her parents are Vietnamese but this is her first extended time spent overseas. Jessica is fascinated by the study of politics because “the political world encompasses both individual preference and experience, both exterior influences and interior motives.” She strives to find the intersection of the academic world of grades, deadlines and knowledge, and the real world of culture, politics, religion and personal experience. Outside of her academic pursuits, she loves to experiment with various baking recipes, attend concerts, and spend time with her golden retriever Luke Skywalker. She is living with a host family in Paris during her first semester, which has done wonders for her conversational French. Jessica hopes “to eventually pursue a career in social justice law, international business, or in the non-profit sector.” She has “always been passionate about the welfare of others” and hopes to utilize her time in France as a foundation for a possible career path abroad.
Anita Suen (China, 2012-13)
Anita Suen, a Political Science major with a concentration in International Relations and a minor in Chinese Studies, is spending her senior year studying abroad in China at Beijing Normal University during the summer and at Peking University during the academic year. She is a Chinese-American who grew up in San Francisco speaking both Cantonese and English. During her year abroad she will primarily be advancing her Mandarin language skills with hopes of becoming fluent, exploring her Chinese roots, and learning about Chinese society, economics, and politics. During her summer program the EAP office in Beijing organized a field trip to Shandong, the province directly south of Beijing, where she spent four days visiting Jinan, the capital, Tai’an, the city at the base of the Taishan Mountain which she climbed, and Qufu, the home of Confucius. In addition to her studies, Anita has kept up an ambitious travel program, visiting Mutianyu, Xi’an, Chengdu, Jiuzhaigou, and Shanghai. She wrote us an e-mail on the overnight train to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia where she was going to spend a few days in the grasslands and the Gobi Desert, experience sleeping in a yurt, herding sheep, and riding horses and camels. It was a ten-hour ride in an overcrowded train on the way there and the same on the way back with only standing room tickets available. “But, things can always be worse,” Anita wrote, “and it will be a memorable learning experience, and I’m very excited for Inner Mongolia, which was at the top of my list of places to visit in China.”
Stephen Dailing (France, 2012-13)
Stephen Dailing is a Political Science and International Studies major also studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France. He was drawn to Sciences Po by the yearlong program, which would allow him to fully immerse himself in the French culture, and by the institution’s dedication to the study of social and political sciences. He was originally attracted to this area of study while participating in Model UN and student government. Stephen hopes to become a diplomat either with the United Nations or for the US State Department. He writes that he loves “the mix of cultures and ideas combined with the practical interests of negotiating….it is a puzzle that constantly shifts in seemingly unpredictable ways due a variety of objective and subjective standards: political, cultural, personal, or simply good or bad luck.” He enjoyed his classes during his first term, and found that the professors expected “more original synthesis of ideas as opposed to regurgitation of facts and concepts” and that the argument style “is a complete inversion from the Anglo-Saxon Style.”
Allie Vogel (France, 2012-13)
Alexandra (Allie) Vogel, an Economic Sociology and Business Marketing major, is studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) in Paris, France. She grew up in Southern California, is fluent in French and enjoys traveling, design, painting and yoga. She is a student affiliate for The Center for Research on Gender in the Professions and is working on a research project titled “The Sport of Beauty – Investigating the Lure and Economics of Beauty Pageants” which examines the cultural and economic aspects of beauty pageants and how well they meet their stated goals of promoting educated, self-confident women. During her first term, one of her classes shot a documentary about a café in Belleville called Aux Folies. Allie writes that “People in Paris really stay in their quartiers or neighborhoods, and Belleville epitomizes this with its’ unique feel.” Prior to beginning coursework in Paris, Allie was able to make a trip to Ireland, where she attended a “red head” festival. During the term she was able to travel to Grenoble and Bordeaux. She lives in the 11th arrondissement sharing an apartment with a French and a Brazilian student. Allie writes that it “is amazing just walking through Paris….especially at night and Sunday mornings when it is calm. It is like walking through a painting.”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-12)
Debbie Leung, a third year student majoring in Urban Studies and Planning with minors in Environmental Studies and Economics, studied at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen for a semester. Debbie has a special interest in sustainability and tries to be eco-friendly by taking public transit, not eating meat, and carrying around a reusable water bottle whenever possible. She has been involved in promoting energy efficiency and waste reduction with the UCSD Student Sustainability Collective. She targeted Copenhagen because of its modest size, bicycle-friendly streets and green technologies. After one semester in Copenhagen she has decided to return to UCSD because in Copenhagen she was not able to get the credits she needs to graduate on time. She writes that, “Copenhagen has been an invaluable resource for seeing and experiencing urban livability. I really would love to stay in Copenhagen the rest of the year to continue learning Danish and to really get comfortable with the city, but after thoroughly considering all my options for staying, the academic outlook for returning to UCSD was better.”
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12)
Molly Tremblay is a Structural Engineering major with a minor in Literatures in English studying at University College Dublin. It is Molly’s goal to study architecture after graduating from UCSD and eventually design innovative, sustainable buildings. Outside of work and classes at UCSD, Molly remains active with her high school Robotics team as a mentor. Her experiences with the robotics team inspired her to become an engineer and one of her goals for her year abroad is to create the first high school robotics team in Ireland by sharing her passion and knowledge. During her first term, Molly’s engineering project group was chosen to participate in an Innovation Ireland exhibition and she reported that they were able to “awe the engineers with our prototype laptop design.” During the term, she also authored a paper about Samuel Beckett and traveled to London. Prior to her departure Molly wrote, “It is with great eagerness that I prepare for my time in Ireland,” adding that she hopes “to leave the Emerald Isle as a more aware global citizen and well-travelled student, ever eager to share my experiences and encourage others to partake in their own adventures.”
Katerina Siefkas (France, 2011-12)
Katerina Siefkas, an International Studies- Political Science / Linguistics major, is studying at the University of Lyon in France. She learned about the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship before she came to UCSD. While still in high school, she visited UC Davis Picnic Day where she met Verena who encouraged her to consider studying abroad and to apply for the scholarship if she chose UCSD. Katerina grew up in Novato, California and developed a love of languages at an early age. She started with French at the age of seven and has added Spanish and Mandarin Chinese since then. In her statement of purpose, Katerina wrote that fluency means much more to her than simply the ability to communicate with ease. During her year in Lyon, she hopes to achieve “an understanding of the applications of the language, of how they define and represent culture, as the quirks of a language are so integral to the culture’s shape and form.” She is living with two French roommates in an apartment in the center of Lyon, overlooking the Place Bellecour, and can walk to her classes. Outside of classes, she has already traveled to Wales, Oxford and London during her first half year abroad.