Page 4 - Access Magazine 2023

Sanchez and Yang
FIND
THEMSELVES
while wandering
ABROAD
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
The strange question surprised Katie Sanchez as she and a Korean friend shared a plate of lamb at a Mediterranean restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.
“Do they break out in song and dance in American high schools?” the friend wanted to know, influenced by what she’d seen in the television film and TV series “High School Musical.” Sanchez realized the friend wasn’t joking. So she clarified that American teenagers don’t boogie down school hallways, and the two women shared a laugh.
Sanchez and other Fresno State students who study at foreign universi- ties collect hundreds of such moments as they broaden their experience with the world. When, for example, Fresno State student Vincent Yang studied in South Korea, he helped his Vietnamese roommate forge a more self-sufficient approach to life. “We talked about what we should expect as adults and what we must do for ourselves,” Yang says.
4 California State University, FRESNO
Such experiences give students confidence and a wider perspective that serve them well after graduation, says Rishad Gandhi, Study Abroad Coordinator at Fresno State.
“Many have not left the Central Valley before and are hesi- tant to do so. But the ones who take a leap of faith and study abroad come back transformed. They not only learn to be- friend people from different cultures, beliefs and traditions, but they develop skills highly valued by employers.”
SANCHEZ AND YANG TOOK THAT “LEAP OF FAITH” AND HAVE NO REGRETS.
Sanchez – a business administration major from Visalia – says she always wanted to study abroad because she likes to travel. “When I found out South Korea was an option for me, I just went for it.” Her semester there helped reignite an interest in international business. “I was having doubts about working in other countries before I went to Korea,” she says. But one of her professors had served as a trade negotiator for South Korea, and his lectures convinced San- chez that her future could be abroad.
Sanchez tried to experience aS much aS poSSible in South Korea.
fShe traveled in rural areas and was the first American some older villagers had encountered. “They were very curious about me, and I got used to being stared at,” Sanchez says.
fShe socialized with Korean students, who often rent spaces away from their dorm rooms or apartments for parties so they can be as loud as they want. “They need to de-stress because everyone is into their academics.”
fShe took opportunities to meet new friends. One day, for example, she struck up a conversation on the subway with a South Korean woman who had lived in New Zealand, arranging to meet for dinner. “My Korean friends were sur- prised by how outgoing Americans are.”
After returning to the United States, Sanchez noticed chang- es in herself. “I realized I was better able to see how other people experience the world and be more understanding of different personalities. The experience made me a better person because I put myself out there and tried new things.”