STUDY ABROAD

In Spring 2018, I enrolled in a study abroad through FIU's Honors College that involved a semester-long course and an immersive summer experience in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In the course, I learned about the intricate history between the United States, Cambodia, and Vietnam during the Cold War and Vietnam War periods. I learned of the tragic genocide led by the Khmer Rouge and the challenges Cambodia faces in achieving development goals. As part of the course, I wrote a research paper on the challenges facing the Cambodian education system and later interviewed an individual from UNICEF-Siem Reap.

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Prior to departing, I completed a service-learning project where I helped raise money to provide school supplies to rural Cambodian schoolchildren. My team and I raised over $1,000 which was used to buy backpacks, notebooks, and Khmer-English workbooks for students.

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We visited many historical sites, including the mass graves known as the "killing fields" in Phnom Penh and the magnificent temples at Angor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. While in Siem Reap, I taught English to students at Provincial Teacher Training College.

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This experience was my first introduction to the world of international development and assured me that I wanted a future in this field.