The adventure of a lifetime: lifelong friends and career development, self development

My Background: Before my study abroad trip I had no experience traveling out of the country. To note, I had very little experience traveling to other states within the United States. However, with it being my last semester in school, I wanted to push myself and try something new. Although many of my peers had warned me about Thailand being an underdeveloped country and that it would put a strain on me being able to graduate, or get a job, I decided that studying abroad in Thailand would be the best place for me to grow as a person and as an explorer.

The Program: Now that I have completed the program, I can genuinely say studying abroad through USAC was better and more than I could have ever asked for. The people from the faculty genuinely care about helping their students. My cohort was extremely diverse, filled with both introverts and extroverts. When I first saw this, I thought that there would be a lot of people feeling left out or that the program would become fairly "clicky". To my surprise, we all got along very well and although there were social groups, everyone was very inviting. In addition, the classes also assisted in bringing us together since a fair portion of them was more conversation or debate oriented.

Classes: Every course was approximately 3 hours long and held once a week - unless they were Thai language classes, held twice a week for an hour and a half. The course I found to be the most difficult was political science. However, for the most part, classes were fair and challenging. I would recommend that classes were to be split into segments since many were lecture based and/or discussion based. My two favorite courses were Supply Chain Management and Buddhism in Thailand. In Supply Chain Management, not only was the instructor very knowledgeable in his field but took us on four different field trips to see how businesses operated in Thailand. This definitely immersed me into the Thailand culture, and gave me great insight to the culture. In Buddhism in Thailand I learned about the history and methodology of Buddhism. Through this course, we were taken for two meditation sessions - teaching us to meditate in three different ways by a current monk (our instructors were retired monks). All in all, all of USAC’s instructors were very knowledgeable in their field and you can tell they taught because they enjoyed teaching.

Trips Visa: Because student visas only last about 90 days, students have one of two options; 1) going through their respective embassy or, 2) visiting a different country to renew their visa. I was told by my peers and instructors that the cost ends up being similar, hence traveling to a different country would be ideal. It was because of this that I had the opportunity to visit three additional countries while in Thailand – although there are a lot of opportunities to go explore many more. I had the opportunity to visit Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar - all of which were beautiful in their own way and filled with culture. I can whole-heartedly say that traveling and exploring both, inside and outside, of Thailand has taught me to adapt to new situations and trust my gut intuition. Most importantly, I have learned to be culturally competent within Southeast Asian culture; something that I truly value.

Transportation: Although Uber isn't used in Chiang Mai anymore, everyone uses one of two type of transportation GRAB, an app similar to Uber, or a red truck (you can order them through grab or flag them down). They typically cost between 20-30 baht within town, however, if you're trying to go far or out of town it will be within 100-200 baht. Also, it is always cheaper to go in a group, hence carpooling is recommended.

Food: My favorite places to eat were on Suthep Road - the food is good all around. If you have a sensitive stomach, I would recommend noodles, or omelets, all of which cost about 30 Baht (30 baht = 1 US$). If saving money is a big factor for an individual, the most financial food is street food, which is about 30-80 Baht. Restaurant can vary but for the most part can range between 120 and 250 Baht. If you end up missing home, I recommend Dukes (in Maya Mall). They have good salads, burgers, and pizza!

Gym: I HIGHLY recommend Moobastrongman Gym if you are into lifting weights. The staff is amazing and very helpful. If you are into cardio or into machine training, there is a gym at Unilift (dorm) that is free.

Grand Canyon: This is one of the most amazing waterparks you will ever go to – I have a picture below. There is a lot of freedom to run around. it is very fun to go, especially in large groups. If you take your student card, you also get a discount! There is also zip lining and other fun things to do there as well.

Trekking tour: My favorite tour within USAC was the trekking tour – it was amazing! You go on a weekend hike down a jungle, where you end up walking with elephants and bathing them. In addition, you also have the opportunity to go bamboo water rafting and stay in cabins with beautiful views. I highly recommend this tour!

My piece of advice is that if you go on this study abroad trip with a positive attitude and an open mind, you can expect to have a great time exploring, meeting amazing people and places. There is no doubt that you will have a new home away from home, Chiang Mai!

Have fun!