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Category Stories: LGBTQ+

  • Abroad in Ireland as a Transgender Student: A Journey of Self-Love

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    Abroad in Ireland as a Transgender Student: A Journey of Self-Love

    The week before I traveled abroad, I pored over my packing list, staring at the crumpled piece of paper until my eyes hurt. I was certain I would forget something crucial, that I would be the only one without it. Medication to last me through December? Check, I reassured myself for the hundredth time. Wool socks?…

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  • Abroad in New Zealand as a Gay Student

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    Abroad in New Zealand as a Gay Student

    When I left the United States to study abroad in New Zealand, many questions ran through my head: Will I make friends? Will I get along with my flatmates? Will the courses be difficult? But I was most anxious about my sexuality. Will I be able to express myself freely? Will I feel safe walking alone?…

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  • How Pride and Community Empowered Me While Abroad in Rome

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    How Pride and Community Empowered Me While Abroad in Rome

    Being a part of minoritized communities while abroad may seem intimidating and scary, but my experiences with identity helped me through my first time in a foreign country. I am intersectional – there is not one identity that solely describes who I am. I am a First-Generation college student, I am queer, I am Asian…

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  • Digital Story: Buenos Aires Was Unforgettable

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    Digital Story: Buenos Aires Was Unforgettable

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKyJSuerc7s

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  • What Life is Like as an LGBTQ+ Student at the University of Sussex

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    What Life is Like as an LGBTQ+ Student at the University of Sussex

    Views on the LGBTQ+ community differ greatly depending on what country you are in. This can make studying abroad as an LGBTQ+ student a bit scary. I am demisexual, meaning that I can only be sexually attracted to somebody if we have a strong emotional connection, but beyond that I am a cisgender heterosexual female.…

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  • Misinterpreting “Know the Climate of Your Host Country”

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    Misinterpreting “Know the Climate of Your Host Country”

    How I Misinterpreted the Phrase “Know the Climate of Your Host Country” What I did (or didn’t do) before I went abroad I thought I was ready to go abroad. I had done my research on the climate there. I knew what to pack in order to be prepared for the weather differences, and I…

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  • Revolution Meets Machismo: Gender in Cuba

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    Revolution Meets Machismo: Gender in Cuba

    On March 8, I woke up and had breakfast before going to my 9:45 a.m. class just like any other Friday in the past month, but this was no ordinary Friday; it was international women’s day and while it may have slipped my mind, Cuba did not forget. At the entrance of the facultad de artes…

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  • Somewhere In the Rainbow: Celebrating Pride in Wellington

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    Somewhere In the Rainbow: Celebrating Pride in Wellington

    It’s my first year of college, and I’m sitting on the floor in my room making friendship bracelets, because I never grew out of making friendship bracelets (and honestly, I probably never will). I can’t do anything too fancy, three colors being the maximum number of colors I can work with, but that’s perfect for…

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  • Everywhere is a Classroom: Learning Through Internships Abroad

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    Everywhere is a Classroom: Learning Through Internships Abroad

    Before I moved to Melbourne, I thought of my semester abroad like a hands-on research experience. As an Urban Studies major, I had spent years studying and discussing all aspects of urban life — city governance, urban planning, social inequity, affordability, transportation, design, and so on. Over and over again, critical discourse on how to…

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  • Discovering My Sexual Identity Abroad

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    Discovering My Sexual Identity Abroad

    First Impressions When I first met the people in my study abroad program I was excited to get to know them since we all came from different schools, states, and backgrounds. I was on the Valparaíso, Chile program where I attended Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. As I became closer to a smaller group of…

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