Hope to return someday soon!

Although everything about traveling abroad was unique from the food to the culture, something unique to my experience definitely has to be the friends that I’ve made. I was lucky to have met people that I clicked with immediately and got along with really well, they made my time abroad enjoyable and memorable. I still keep in touch with most of them and hope to see them again soon!
One memory that sticks out in particular is when we went to the DMZ as part of the TEAN orientation. It was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable excursions during my time in Korea. Being able to look out in the distance at such a place I’ve read so much about was surreal.

A word of advice to future participants: don’t pack as much! I didn’t listen to this advice thinking I needed everything I packed but I really didn’t. Packing half as much as you think you need is the way to go. As for how studying abroad impacted my life after my time abroad, I was able to make significant progress in learning Korean by immersing myself in the culture and the language for 5 months. I’m grateful to TEAN for giving me the opportunity to experience my heritage at the roots and for easily the most memorable semester of my undergraduate career.