This program enhanced my academic goals by teaching me about having an open mind about experiences and learning. I understood what it meant to be in a new setting learning, it was a typical classroom environment, but it was still very different from what I'm used to at Michigan State which helped me be a better student overall.

It helped my career goals because I got to learn about a different culture firsthand from the Fijian students and the teaching staff . Helping me learn more about others will help me in the long run since I will be working with lots of different people.

This experience aboard affected me on a personal level since I learned a lot about myself and lost my best friend. The program was split into two sections where one was in the classroom and the other was the survivor aspect of the program. My best friend took the second half of the program personally and I was betrayed by the person I went into the program with. I learned a lot about trust and loyalty within myself that I didn’t understand before. I realized what kind of friend I wanted and needed in the future. This experience taught me a lot about my own personal life because coming home from the program my life was very different than before.

Being in Fiji helped me improve my ability to communicate with people whose language wasn’t English because I got to learn a new language. I was challenged to adjust to how people communicate and learn the different language etiquettes.

Specifically, what I learned from Fijian culture was life. The powerful meaning of life. Bula. This word will forever stick with me because this word was what you said to anyone you first met and meant life. The culture in Fiji is so full of life, and it truly made me appreciate life more, it gave a different meaning to life and doing everything with love and passion.

A myth that was busted for me about education abroad was how scary meeting new people and not knowing anyone. I thought it would be intimidating during the whole program getting to meet people and you don’t really get to warm up to people but that was proven really wrong. I made friends I have continued seeing and everyone is in the same boat as I was so everyone is nervous about meeting everyone too.

I had no prior ideas of what the experience was going to be like. Being a first-generation college student, I had no insight into what studying aboard is, but it wasn’t as challenging as I first thought.

Nothing beats waking up in Fiji. I grew such an appreciation for nature, the waves crashing and moving all day and night. It was beautiful to hear, and I never saw so much green in my life. That opened my eyes to how important it is to make sure I keep up with education is because then I'll be continuously having eye-opening experiences and that is so valuable. Like mentioned before, since I am a first-generation college student this really gave such a different perspective to college and it’s something I'm really grateful for.

• Name: Tristie Nguyen
• Status: Senior
• Major: Psychology
• Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Program: Fiji: The Scholar Island