MAJOR: Computer Science and Linguistics

PROGRAM: SSA – Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea

EMAIL: conrad.avery@sjsu.edu

BIO: My name is Conrad Avery(He/Him) and I am going into my second year here at SJSU studying Computer Science. I recently finished up my Study Abroad term at SKKU in Seoul, South Korea this past summer and it was a wonderful experience that I will forever cherish. I chose to study abroad because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and experience education in a different country. I had also never been overseas before and thought that this was an excellent time for me to experience true independence and learn about myself in a different culture.

LEADER, VOLUNTEER, OR JOB EXPERIENCES: I have had many leadership, volunteer, and job experiences at SJSU. I was the academic chairman of my fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi, where I was directly responsible for improving the academics of my brothers in the fraternity. I served as a student at large in the spring for the Associated Students Finance Committee. I am an active Army ROTC cadet here at SJSU as well. Most recently, I have joined the 2024-2025 SJSU college corps cohort where I will teach computer science curriculum to elementary school students.

GOALS: My goals for my study abroad experience were to interact with people from different countries and see how their educational upbringings differ from mine. I also wanted to engage with the local community of South Korea and understand what it is like to be the minority or foreigner in a country. On a professional side, I wanted to get a good experience of what it is like working with people of vastly different backgrounds and cultures and understand how to get past these differences to work towards a common goal.

Here I am wearing the hanbok at Gyeongbokgung Palace, embracing the beauty of Korean tradition

ACADEMICS: My study abroad experience will be unforgettable. It was an amazing time where I learned so much about myself and also about how different parts of the world outside of my United States bubble operate. I took a course that focused on developing sustainable computer science technology and I made sure to be friendly with my peers to help my academic success. This experience has impacted the way I view my academics back at SJSU because now I have a better understanding of how to communicate with people of different backgrounds and how to be more understanding of people with these different backgrounds.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Being someone who had never left the United States, let alone flown over seas, it was a very unique experience to be in an entire different country where daily things and tasks are run differently than the US. I could immediately notice the difference in culture in South Korea compared to the US whether it be the cleanliness, the work culture, or even the shopping culture. It was very interesting to me to see what I though South Korea did better than the US and what the US did better than South Korea and also ways that each country could adapt aspects from the other to make themselves more efficient. Coming back to the US now, I liked to compare small things to South Korea, for example the public transportation in the US and wonder how the US could implement a system similar to South Korea.

CAREER: I learned how to adapt to a new environment and also how to live when being outside of my comfort zone. Going to South Korea was something that was very daunting to me and was something I had never done before but I learned how to live with discomfort which has helped me back home where I am stressed or don’t like how something is in my life. On a professional and academic side, I learned better empathy. Hearing stories of my fellow students in the classroom opened my mind up more to the idea that people all come from different upbringings and have different experiences which shape their views which I should keep in mind when making decisions.

PERSONAL GROWTH: The biggest impact that my study abroad experience had on me was understanding that there is life outside of the United States bubble I had been raised in for all my life. I could only learn so much from reading or watching videos online, but actually living in South Korea and experiencing what it was like to live somewhere else very much opened my mind up to how different people in different countries live. I became so much more comfortable with the culture of South Korea that when I came back to the US, I felt homesick in the way that I still wanted to be back in South Korea. This was something that I never would have expected me to have felt, even on my last day in South Korea and it really showed me how much I missed the ability to explore both physically and mentally about what I enjoy.

IDENTITIES:  Being half Asian yet never having the chance to leave the US, I had always felt a little disconnected with my Asian heritage but when I came to South Korea I was able to get a better glimpse into what Asian culture is like and connect more with my Asian heritage.

FUTURE: Study abroad has prepared me for the future in that I now feel confident in having to start a life somewhere completely new. I now know I will be able to adapt to my environment and also learn from my environment. Study abroad has also helped me make connections and understand life outside of the US so I know how to consider different country cultures when talking to people of different backgrounds.

TIPS: Live in the moment and tell yourself to remember every second or write about every adventure. For me, South Korea was very packed with a different adventure each day and had I not been keeping track and logging everything I did, I would have forgotten about a lot of what happened.