Work-Life Balance in Japan
My first week in Japan, I lived alone in an office building that looked like a spaceship on top of a hill in a forest. I arrived as an intern for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental…
UT Education Abroad Blog
Inspiring Longhorns to Explore the World
UT Education Abroad Blog
Inspiring Longhorns to Explore the World
Category Colleges and Schools
All our stories from Education Abroad students participating in degree programs from UT Austin’s many colleges and schools.
G’days and Thinking in New Ways
I’m staring outside at a lifted Chevy Silverado 4×4 truck baking in the steaming Texas sun. It’s 6:16 p.m. and feels like 100 degrees outside. Everyone in this Starbucks works silently on their devices, occasionally looking up into the abyss…
All Crossroads Lead to Rome
Rome, the city that saw empires rise and fall, the city that bore monuments for millennia, never rushed me. The days went fast, the sun burned hard, but the dinners were long, the movies plentiful, and the rounds of Uno…
I Didn’t Grow Up Here, But I Grew Here: Lessons From Singapore
As I sat in Changi Airport in Singapore waiting for my flight back home, the words “I can’t believe it” echoed in my head. I relived the past few weeks in my mind, scrolling through my camera roll: the busy…
A Home Away From Home: Looking Back on My Time in Florence, Italy
It’s funny how your perception of a place can feel so solid and real, yet be turned on its head so quickly. I visited Florence, Italy, for the first time the summer after fourth grade, and I returned this summer…
Study Abroad: Letters to My Past and Future Self
Why? For as long as I can remember, I have had dreams of leaving. I have always romanticized the idea of packing my life into boxes and introducing myself to the world. I wanted streets in different languages to know…
The Power of Pause: What Life in Durban Has Taught Me
It feels cliché to hear someone tell you to “stop and smell the roses.” It’s the kind of line you skim past in a self-help book, not something you’re actually going to do. I mean, I don’t have time for…
Three Tips to Adjust to Life Abroad
From the moment I landed in Madrid for UT’s Evolution study abroad program, I had near-daily meetings, activities, and excursions that kept me on my toes. Meanwhile, I was battling jet lag and, at times, homesickness. One of my biggest…
Bikes, Bridges and Beauty: My Study Abroad Journey in Seville, Spain
I’m riding on a bus from Seville to Cádiz, a Spanish coastal town, watching the hills pass by my window. As I stare out, I realize just how many buses I’ve boarded—and how far I’ve traveled—in the past few weeks. …