Sarah Truong is a junior from Ankeny, Iowa and comes from three generations of Vietnamese boat people. Visiting Berlin, a city marked by the legacy of division, evoked a profound resonance as she encountered the Berlin Wall. Walking along its remaining fragments and through the surrounding memory spaces—where traces of the past linger in neighborhoods, streets, and empty voids—she felt a quiet hope rooted in the resilience and survival she witnessed amid loss. Witnessing the narratives of victims and escapees of the Berlin Wall drew clear parallels to the journeys of her own family. These stories have shaped her reflections on how environments and history are passed down generations, inspiring her to continue to nurture community and advocate for those whose stories risk being forgotten and whose voices are often overlooked.

Anh Nguyen is an international student from Hanoi, Vietnam. She is currently concentrating in international studies and Social Behavior Science. In high school, she participated in the Ben Hai River historical research project, which further inspired and motivated her to expand her interest in the Berlin Wall. In Berlin, she explored the remains of the Berlin Wall and observed how the city continues to grow around its divided past. The places and people she encountered deeply echoed her own ethnic identity and Vietnam’s history of separation and resilience. This study tour is meaningful to her because it connects her to her ancestors’ stories, helps her confront her homeland’s pain, and inspires hope for future generations.

Dimpi Lama is an international student from Lalbandi, Nepal, studying Environmental Studies and Economics. She experienced Berlin as a living record of division and change. Walking along the remains of the Berlin Wall, she saw how communities hold onto painful histories while continuing to move forward. Through the trip, she reflected on lessons of hope and resilience, finding meaning in the city’s ability to transform spaces of separation into places of shared memory and possibility.

Nala Thomas is a student from Los Angeles, California, currently studying International Studies. Visiting Berlin for the first time, she was deeply affected by experiencing the city’s history in real time, especially the lasting presence of the Berlin Wall and the stories attached to it. Coming from a background rooted in service, cross-cultural engagement, and creative writing, she reflected on the trip through observation, listening, and writing, finding hope in the people she met and in the possibility of connection, understanding, and healing across histories shaped by division.

Chloé is a freshman student at Soka University of America, concentrating on Environmental studies. Her interest in Urban studies and historical preservation allowed her to pursue this learning cluster. 

At the end of the program, the insights and the knowledges gained from this cluster were invaluable. There is a confidence that she can use this knowledge as a contribution.

Miyuki Sase is an International student from Tokyo, Japan. Her main academic interest is in psychology, specifically exploring how people remember, develop their hatred, and practice apology and forgiveness in East Asia. Also, as a student from Japan, she wanted to explore more about how Berlin preserves and remembers its history compared to Japan, which brought her to Berlin. Throughout the valuable 10 days in Berlin, she was able to gain a lot of knowledge, but particularly listening victim's voices were huge takeaway in her trip. Before the departure, she learned the history in a classroom and thought she knew what happened during the division of the wall. However, thanks to the 10-day precious trip, she deeply felt there were individuals living in that era. This made her realize that all history is constructed by individuals' lives, not merely one event. Also, she was deeply moved by the efforts of a lot of people, such as scholars, guides, activists, and students. From formal institutions to everyday citizens, the dedication to remembering is an ongoing movement in Berlin. 

Abass is a student from Kumasi, Ghana, studying Life Sciences. Outside of academics, he enjoys sports, traveling, and trying different foods. During the trip, he experienced Berlin by walking and biking through the city, visiting museums and memorial sites, and listening to stories from people who lived through the years of the Berlin Wall. These moments made him realize how much Berlin has changed since the fall of the Wall, even as traces of that past remain a part of the city. His most memorable moments was standing at the top of the Berlin TV Tower and looking out over the entire city, where the former divisions are no longer visible, yet knowing they once existed completely changed how he understood the city’s layers of memory and division

Jenny Vo is a sophomore student from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She pursues a dual concentration in Social Behavioral Sciences and Environmental Studies. Having spent her childhood in a coastal city near the 17th Parallel, the provisional military demarcation line that once partitioned her homeland, she has developed a perspective of urban landscapes as living bodies that carry the emotional weight of history. At Soka, Jenny has interrogated these themes through research on post-war governmental reconstruction with SIGS and by examining the intersections of ecological restoration and spatial justice in her last LC with Deike.

Following this study trip, Jenny has developed a sharper, more critical lens toward the mechanics of division and reunification. She is particularly interested in the persistent ideological fractures that remain long after physical barriers are dismantled, as seen in many other cases worldwide (Vietnam, Indonesia, North/South Korea,...). She also holds higher hope for how governments can move beyond "sanitized" or performative memorialization to create spaces that facilitate genuine social and psychological healing. 

Aakash is a freshman from Nepal. He enjoy's travelling, going to new places and be an explorer. From this trip he felt how important and transformative history can be for the human civilization. His most remorable moment from this journey was the being Brandenburg Gate where he emotionally felt connected on what he was seeing and where he was standing once holds, the memories, ideologies and echoes for change. 

Colby is a sophomore student from Sacramento, CA. Currently studying Environmental and Urban Studies, he experienced what living in a European city was like, and how it differed from living in the US. Since most of his background stems from America, he took great value in reflecting on life in the US, and how its current politics are not too dissimilar to political events of the past. With this knowledge, he hopes to understand what we can do as a society to avoid further disconnect, and work towards a brighter future.

Taiho Higaki is an international student from Japan who has lived in multiple countries and has seen how conflict and division are taught, and remembered in different ways. In Berlin, walking alongside the traces of the Wall made the idea of “separation” feel immediate: not as history in a textbook, but as something that shaped ordinary lives, families, and neighborhoods. Berlin continues to hold space for individual stories, through memorials, education, and public dialogue, as a form of advocacy for people who were harmed or overlooked. As a life sciences student aspiring to work in medicine, he hopes to carry that same commitment into healthcare: listening closely, honoring personal and historical narratives, and treating them as essential to compassionate care.

Aayusha is a freshman from Nepal studying International Studies. She is most interested in people, their stories, and how their lived experiences shape the way they see the world and the choices they make later in life. 

During the Berlin Wall study trip, she interviewed people on the streets of Berlin, including those who had lived in East and West Germany. Listening to their memories, from the construction of the Wall to its fall, helped her understand how monuments leave deep marks on people, even long after they are gone. Through these small conversations, she realized that pain, hope, fear, and freedom are felt in similar ways across language, religion, and borders. This experience reinforced her belief that beyond all differences, people are simply human. The trip also sparked a deeper interest in journalism, as she found meaning in listening, asking questions, and sharing their stories forward.