Going Global: SDSU students engage with the world
What inspires students to study abroad and connect across cultures? Four Aztecs delve into their international journeys
For Jared Williams, Korea just clicked.
During the pandemic, he had free time. So he tackled learning a language. “I really liked the sound of Korean,” he said.
A computer science major, Williams met Korean-speaking friends online as he became fluent. While international travel had always been intriguing, he didn’t think it was possible during college.
More than 1,400 San Diego State University students studied abroad during the spring and summer terms, a 20% increase over last year.
With a renewed focus on academic alignment in study abroad advising, SDSU is preparing graduates for global careers. Instead of asking students where they want to go, study abroad advisors now begin with: “What is your major?”
Four SDSU students recently shared what inspired them to become global citizens and how their experiences studying abroad led them to view the world and their own career plans differently. Here are their stories.
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“I had never traveled in my life outside of the United States,” said Williams, who grew up in California. “The farthest I had been was Las Vegas.”
At SDSU, he began researching study abroad programs, discovering that they weren’t out of reach. He spent a semester in South Korea and can’t wait to go back.
“My whole lifestyle changes when I go to Korea,” he said. “I feel different. I feel motivated, and I do new stuff every day in Korea, where here in America I feel like it is the same thing day after day.”
As a student in Seoul, he lived in a dorm for the first time and made new friends. He traveled to different parts of the country.
Korean culture was both expected and unexpected. In classes, the environment is different from the U.S., with students rarely speaking, he said. But outside of classes, he found Koreans friendly and helpful.
“People think Koreans are introverted and don’t really have small talk, but whenever I asked for help on the streets, they were super welcoming and hospitable,” he said.
Williams hopes to study abroad in Korea again and could see himself living there.
“For me, I think it is important to live in the present,” he said, “I don’t like the view of people who grind in college so they can live a better life in the future. I know that living in Korea is invigorating for me.”
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Tasha Murphy was both excited and cautious at the beginning of a five-month study abroad program in Italy. She wasn’t fluent in the language and hadn’t traveled to Europe before. She felt out of place.
After a couple of weeks, she and her roommates walked into a family-run restaurant closing for the day. Instead of refusing service, owners Marco and Erica invited the group to join them for dinner. They got to know each other, picked up tips on what to do and what to avoid, and even exchanged phone numbers.
The restaurant became like a home base for Murphy and her friends. “They completely changed the trajectory of what we thought Italy was going to be like because we were met with this familial presence,” she said.
That was the start of a transformative experience, said Murphy, an SDSU criminal justice major who graduated last spring. During her time in Europe, she visited 11 countries, prepping for classes on flights and trains.
Back in San Diego, Murphy became a mentor in SDSU’s International Student Center Ambassador Program and participated in a Global Youth Education Program with the San Diego Diplomacy Council, helping high school students with a model United Nations simulation.
Later, Murphy traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, for a cross-comparative studies program through the SDSU School of Public Affairs. Though just a week long, Murphy called the trip incredibly immersive and eye-opening.
Murphy came back from these overseas experiences more “gritty.”
“You learn that you are capable of so much more than you think,” she said. “I feel a lot more empowered.”
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Lizzie Epps pushes herself into the unfamiliar. It’s part of her mindset, and a big reason why she chose to fly cross-country from her Florida home to attend SDSU. It also drove her to travel abroad three times during college.
“I’ve learned that being uncomfortable and putting yourself in those situations, you are really able to see who you are as a person and who you would like to become,” said Epps.
A double major in International Security and Conflict Resolution and Latin American Studies, Epps laid the groundwork for international travel by working at the International Student Center (ISC) and becoming a mentor to international students as part of the ISC’s Ambassador Program.
Her first overseas trip was to Greece, where she traveled on her own just before starting a semester abroad program in Italy. As a first-time solo traveler, she was apprehensive. But she challenged herself to meet people. From those conversations, she learned how people perceive America. She was surprised by some of the stereotypes and enjoyed providing her perspective.
“That trip completely shifted my mindset,” said Epps. “It made me realize that I want to work directly with people across cultures. Before, I considered travel as my passion but (only) a hobby. I can see it as my career now.”
She plans to work in global product management.
This summer, Epps flew to Cape Town, South Africa, for the William R. Mundt Memorial Scholarship for Cross-Cultural Peace internship program. Living with two host families in different neighborhoods over seven weeks, Epps experienced the complexities of a society grappling with the legacies of apartheid.
“Living with them was just an amazing experience, and they really educated me about where they were coming from,” she said. “I am grateful. I am definitely seeing my world differently.”
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Antonio Estudillo’s Chula Vista high school offered a program that took seniors on a trip to Europe. He got a job as a sophomore to begin saving for the trip, where he visited seven countries.
That experience set Estudillo on an international path. When he enrolled at SDSU, he signed up for the ISC Ambassador Program, where he strived to deliver authentic Southern California experiences to international students.
“I feel that interacting with international students brings a kick of excitement,” he said. “They come here with excitement, and I feel that energy, and it makes me excited, too.”
An environmental science major, Estudillo had his first SDSU study abroad trip this summer in Professor Erin Riley’s Fieldwork Experience in Indonesia program, where he studied primates in the rainforest.
“A major takeaway from Dr. Riley's program is that there is a lot of passion for sustainability and environmentalism around the world,” said Estudillo. The program included students and faculty not only from SDSU but also from Georgia State University and Hasanuddin University in Indonesia.
“Living in Indonesia and interacting with the people I've met has helped me adopt a more optimistic and curious approach to life,” he said.
The trip also created a stronger connection to his field of study in environmental sciences and inspired him to incorporate volunteering in his travels.
“It’s a great way to get to know new places,” he said. “It is a way to immerse myself in sustainable efforts abroad, giving back to the communities that I visit.”
