“I’ve always wanted to come to Korea because I’ve never really connected with this part of my heritage. I’m half Korean and half Indian, but growing up in Utah, Korea always felt a bit distant to me. When I heard about this opportunity during my fall semester orientation back in Utah, I was immediately drawn to it.

One thing that surprised me about Songdo, Incheon, is how many children I see around the city. I was walking around a shopping mall called Triple Street on Saturday and nearly tripped over at least three toddlers. For some reason, I expected to see fewer kids, but it actually feels really lively.

I’m hoping my time here can help me figure out what path I want to take. I’ve heard that the film and games programs here are great, although really competitive. The professors I’ve met so far also seem very understanding of the challenges international students face when adjusting to a new country and domestic students studying in English.

I’ve already met quite a few people through orientation, and the weekend before classes started, I even went to Cinder, a small bar popular with international visitors in the city, with kind of a London pub vibe. It was a fun way to meet people. Everyone seems really nice so far, but I guess I’m prepared to be proven wrong.

My parents were a bit apprehensive at first since I’ve never been this far away from them for this long. Now I’m lucky enough to call them my biggest supporters.

While I’m here, I hope to learn some basic Korean and get more comfortable with solo travel and overcoming communication barriers. I’d love to travel often when I’m older, so this feels like a good place to start.”

— Arsen Spaulding, University of Utah first-year student,

visiting the Asia Campus as a Learning Abroad student with an undeclared major