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As the date of departure nears, the realization that I am about spend 3 1/2 weeks in a foreign country without any of my friends or family starts to settle in. When I first attended UW Tacoma, one of the aspects of college life that I struggled with was finding a sense of belonging within campus, especially having spent half of my college life online. However, I overcame my struggles and started making genuine friendships over time. I began to feel more comfortable around campus, socialized more with my peers, and felt like I genuinely belong here. I even went out of my comfort zone and got a job as a Pack Advisor for UW Tacoma. My worry is that the familiar feeling of a lack sense of belonging will resurface during the study abroad trip to South Korea. Because I have experienced this unfamiliarity before, I feel more prepared than I did my first year here. I now know and acknowledge that this feeling is normal and passive. I am not alone in feeling this way. I trust in myself that I will gain my sense of belonging over time.
The foundation of my trust is built on the shared feelings I have with my fellow classmates. During the first few weeks of the quarter, we were given opportunities to get to know each other, since we were about to spend 3 1/2 consecutive weeks together in a foreign country. We shared worries, past abroad experiences, and things we are looking forward to. We're even making plans of places we want to see and food we want to eat together. I didn't even realize that I was slowly losing the fear of lacking a sense of belonging. We subconsciously became each other's support system for this trip. I realized that having a shared place with a set of people is what shapes one's sense of belonging. Even if we're in a foreign country, the mere fact that we're all going to be there together brings me comfort. The idea of us experiencing new things together emphasizes the feeling of excitement rather than the feeling of excitement rather than the feeling of anxiety.
During class, we discussed how South Korea is relatively a homogenous country in comparison to the US, meaning we were most likely going to be the minority during our stay there. I feel that having this conversation was important, as our identity is one of the first noticeable things about us. I think it is important for us to be aware of our own presence and cultural difference to be able to understand and learn about South Korean culture. I feel that this will help us further immerse ourselves and return home with more knowledge about cross-cultural psychology. For our final project, we are given the freedom to discuss a topic of our choice. I am looking forward to learning more about how South Korean culture perceives psychology and how it differs from the Western perspective. My goal for this program is to be able to incorporate Korean/Asian perspectives on psychology and mental health to my future career path of becoming a psychologist. I want to be more inclusive towards cultures that still have stigmas regarding seeking mental help. Hopefully, this program will be my stepping stone towards my goal and that I will be able to help destigmatize seeking mental help in more cultures and communities.
