Today, I woke up excited for the day ahead! We took the train to get to Yonsei University. Yonsei University was in Sicheon, which is a very beautiful college town! We got there a little early, so we had some time to walk around. I got a vanilla cold brew from a local coffee shop nearby! It was delicious and it woke me up!

Soon, we returned back to campus and met our tour guides. Our tour guides were friends of our advisor’s, Dr. Yun! My group’s tour guide was a senior student at Yonsei named Minhee. He studies nano health technology at Yonsei, and is looking to work in the semiconductor industry. Minhee showed our group the amphitheater and parts of main campus. 

Afterwards, we ate at Yonsei’s dining hall. I had ramen with eggs and fried vegetables and it was tasty! Our group had the chance to ask Minhee about college life in South Korea. We learned that the school year starts in March and ends in December in South Korea. Additionally, we learned about the admission process here. Here, it only really consists of test scores, which differs from the US’s emphasis on essays.  

Lunch fueled me for the tour ahead! An official Yonsei tour guide showed us around campus. We got to see the school of building as well as other student centers located on Yonsei’s main campus. Afterwards, we listened to a presentation from the Dean of the engineering school at Yonsei. The Dean of engineering had taught at Penn State before actually! We learned about the numerous study abroad opportunities available through Yonsei. 

Later, we had the opportunity to tour a lab at Yonsei. Then, we toured the lab and office spaces of a startup called CellArtgen. They create organoids through testing on mice. We were able to see a mouse’s brain through a microscope, and also observe a mouse running on a treadmill. It was really fascinating seeing science this up close.

Afterwards, I grabbed dinner in Hongdae. Overall, this was an exciting experience!