My first extended experience abroad was when my parents and I spent 1 month in Malaysia for Christmas. Having Christmas without snow was interesting in itself but what really shocked me was the similarities and differences between American Christmas and Malaysian Christmas. In America we often sit down in one house, eat, open presents, make merry, and wait for Santa Claus on Christmas eve. Then on Christmas morning we open more presents and go to another family member's house (usually the one who did not host the night before) to have lunch and spend time together drinking hot chocolate and playing board games. However in Malaysia we travel to many open houses and visit everyone. There is a never ending chain of food and gifts and even a church mass to attend before heading home. Needless to say it was a huge change from my normal celebrations. We were also able to travel to 4 other countries during our trip including: Cambodia, Thailand, India, and Indonesia.

My second extended experience abroad was when my mother took a sabbatical for one year. We packed our bags and moved to Malaysia where I attended an international school. School in Malaysia is based on the English school system and was a bit difficult for me to adjust to at first. However, I made new friends after the first few days and made it my home. Those friendships still remain today and are one of the main reasons I come back to Malaysia every year. It is always a joy catching up, getting good food, and talking for hours about what I have missed in the past year. It was this year long trip that really opened up my love for travel. During this year I traveled to around 5 different countries aside from Malaysia and made friends everywhere. This is where I decided that study abroad was a must for my future lifestyle.

I continued to take short 1 month trips to Malaysia until the end of high school. After entering college I searched for ways to add study abroad to my college life as a norm. My first year I took a history class that once again lead me back to Malaysia in the summer of 2017. However, I now view the country in a new light knowing more about its history, culture, and development. In the summer of 2018 I returned to Malaysia on a leisure trip to visit family and friends before moving on to a new adventure, South Korea. I decided it was time to branch out to other places I had not been before. After enrolling in Hanyang University's Summer program I arrived in Seoul for what I can only explain as a whirlwind of a trip. I met so many people and saw so many new things. I fell in love with a new country and culture and decided that I needed to come back.