GEO Blog
Want to experience the world through the eyes of our students? Dive into the GEO blog and discover captivating tales of adventure, culture, and academic growth. Share your study abroad journey with us by sharing your own blog post!
Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream of Traveling Abroad
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Day 1: Here I am a middle aged woman going back to school obtaining concurrent masters degrees and participating in GEO study aboard program for SE Asia NGOs. I attended this class for two reasons: the first is to get a deeper look…
Learning and Growing in SE Asia
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My study abroad program, NGOs of SE Asia, has exceeded any expectations I may have had for the program. When I started the study abroad program, I had few expectations, to ensure that I did not get disappointed if things did not…
Returning Home
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A consequence of making friends abroad is having to say goodbye to them. This summer, I was not very sure what I was getting myself into with a study abroad experience, but I was excited to start my adventure nonetheless. Studying abroad is…
Lessons from Abroad: Racism and White Saviorism in Vietnam
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Whenever someone asks me, “What’s your dream destination?”, my response is always, and almost immediately: Vietnam. For 20 years, I had spent my life only seeing my family through a screen, so when the opportunity to study abroad struck I…
Building Resilience and Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
Hello! My name is Connor and I identify as a queer first generational non-traditional student studying Spanish at the University of Oregon. In relation to my identities, I found that studying abroad here in Oviedo was a bit of a relief as Spain overall tends to be more inclusive to queer people.…
Addressing Mental Health Abroad and Gaining a New Perspective at Home
Hi friends, we’re back for blog #3. This time I’ll be writing about coming back to the U.S. and readjusting to the culture to see if I might be able to prepare you for what you might experience returning to your home country. I will also cover some brief thoughts on the GEO exchange experience.…
Experiencing the Intersection of Race, Religion, and Sexuality
Hey everybody, Abraham here back with another blog. I want to continue some of my thoughts from the last blog, as I spent most of it introducing myself. Specifically, I want to write about my relationship with Catholicism and religion. After, I will offer some thoughts on race and ethnicity in…
Bringing Multiple Identities to Queretaro, Mexico
Hi everybody, my name is Jacob Abraham Munoz and I’m happy to be writing for you as a Diverse Duck Ambassador! Before I get into my experience in Mexico in contrast to my expectations of the trip, I’d like to give a little bit of info on myself so that you can know what kind of perspective I’m…
Reflections After Coming Home
Coming home from such large experiences always trigger a period of required rest for me. I tend to return and collapse into a minimum of a week of recuperation, sometimes longer. This adjustment period is a mix of many things: recovery from burnout, culture shift, and just the sheer need to process…
Getting Lost in Querétaro
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My study abroad experience in Querétaro, México, was an incredible and humbling experience. There was so much to learn and love, with, at times, an overwhelming number…