Meet the Study Abroad Ambassadors 2020-2021: Rachel

Meet our Study Abroad Ambassadors for 2020-2021. These students are study abroad returnees who are available to answer questions and share their experience with interested students!Rachel LarsonMajor: History major, Creative Writing minorProgram: South Korea"All of the classes I took were regionally based, but that was from my own choosing. At Korea University, you register for classes right before the semester so that itself was an interesting experience. I took a language class and a history and culture course relevant to Korea, as well as other international affairs and history courses. Although I tailored mine to fit my major, there was a lot of variety in the classes available for international students.I was lucky to be able to travel outside of the city I studied in, but even if I hadn’t there was always so much to do in Seoul! In a typical day, I would have one or two classes and in the time not spent studying with friends or in one of the many cafes, I would go out and explore the city! The most important thing I learned while studying abroad was to take chances and get comfortable going places by myself. South Korea was a great place to exercise my adventurous side since most places I traveled were easily accessible by train and affordable on a student budget.Although I had been living away from my family for some time, my study abroad experiences definitely built up my independence. When living in another country across the world, the only person I had to rely on completely was myself. While this could be scary, it taught me to be more confident in my decisions and be more easy on my mistakes. In addition to learning a lot about Korean language, culture, and history, these lessons in independence were definitely worthwhile.Students can reach out to Rachel via email at:Rachel.Larson@Chatham.edu