Visiting South Korea had been a long-held dream of mine. I have enjoyed Korean culture through Korean dramas and K-Pop since high school, so I was extremely eager to learn more about the culture by visiting.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to visit South Korea through the Yonsei International Summer School Program. Yonsei’s campus was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. With ivy-covered buildings everywhere, it felt like I was in a drama as I walked to class every day. Fun fact: Yonsei’s Underwood building is famous for its appearance in several dramas like True Beauty. Seeing a famous building every day felt extremely surreal. Since returning home from Korea, I’ve seen several of the places that I visited in the dramas that I watched. For example, I felt giddy as I saw the characters in See You in my 19th Life walk through Lotte World, a place I had been to a few weeks prior. While it was fun to see famous drama sites my favorite part of visiting Yonsei University was the friends I made.

Despite being thousands of miles away, the friends I made all attend MSU. Even though we didn’t know each other at MSU, we became lifelong friends in South Korea. I think what brought us so close is that we were all exploring Seoul together and navigating a new place.

Visiting Seoul also helped me to redefine why I want to learn Korean. In South Korea, there were a lot of moments when I wished my Korean was better. I was either ordering at a restaurant or attempting a conversation with a taxi driver. It was frustrating when I couldn’t communicate, and it made me wish I knew more. Those moments made me want to study harder so that I would have fewer of those moments when I return to Korea. So, this semester I have a new drive when I take my Korean class so that I can communicate better in Korean.

I was also able to solidify that I want to return to Korea after graduation to teach English. I fell in love with the culture and environment within Seoul, so I am very excited to return to Korea through the English Program in Korea or EPIK. I have wanted to participate in this program for a few years, but I was hesitant about living abroad in Korea for a year. However, after living in Korea over the summer I am excited to move back for a year.

I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to study abroad in South Korea. Without this experience, I would not have made lifelong friends nor rediscovered my purpose when learning Korean.

Name: Ashleigh Lowe
Status: Senior
Major: RCAH
Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Program: Yonsei University - Summer in Seoul