A Singaporean student reflects on his international student identity — Lack of life-long friendships, encountering identity crises and learning to adapt to every kind of environment are things an international student has to face from living in five different countries. Eric Chan of Singapore has been studying in five countries — Singapore, China, Hongkong, the United States and Canada —…

A Japanese student seeks his dream of flying in the US — Most people who live near an airport become annoyed at noises, but a 22-year-old man was always excited about going to his grandparents’ house that was next to the airport because he imagined himself as a pilot. Yasuyuki Tanabe who is from Saitama, Japan, said his grandparents used to live…

A Chinese student comes to US for college because of good experience learning new things with host family and friends — Some international students come to the U.S. and only make friends with people from their country, but Roy Huang of Shanghai, China, is striving to learn more about other cultures through a platform of her passion — making and editing videos to share happiness. Huang is a junior art major…

An American student explores China and reflects on inequality and similarity among people — While roaming through many cities and having a fun time in mainland China, Jennifer Lam of Colorado College reflected on privileges and inequality that exist in every part of the world. Despite her parents’ doubts about her choice of going into a communist state, Lam spent two full months in…

An American student manages to survive in German high school before encouraging youngsters to go abroad — From an exchange student to the one who sends other students abroad, Cassidy Beyer has grown from being away from her family for a year in a different high school setting in Germany without knowing German at the age of 15. After browsing through many programs, Beyer of Maple Valley…

A Thai student learns a new language from actually using it after facing loneliness and struggles — Heading off to Chile with basic Spanish skills with the hope to help Chilean students with their English but ended up learning more herself, Patthira Srithong of Nakhon Nayok, Thailand, suffered from language difficulties before forcing herself to become fluent in her third language. Srithong went to Temuco, Chile, for…

Going to India as a teacher to experience similar education strategies to what’s in the US — Leaving the U.S. to India with many perceptions of it being a third world country, Talia Schiff found out that different parts of India had very different environments, unlike what she expected, and there was a lot to learn from that as she spent eight weeks in a wealthy part…

A Macanese student discovers herself during her time abroad in the opposite environment of what’s at home — Fleeing a stressful educational environment at home to discover another side of herself in a more individualistic society in the U.S., Venus Ieong came to realize that she can be more than what her society expected as her horizon has been broadened while studying abroad. Ieong is a current junior…

A Korean recent graduate faces assumptions from both people abroad and at home — Being stereotyped, feeling left out, cultural differences and a language barrier are some difficulties a recent graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison had encountered during her time in the U.S. as an international student from South Korea, Sukyoung Bae said. Bae recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree and has gone back…