Last year, I did a study away in Beijing. It's not a vacation. It's highly immersive for a full semester. You're interacting with locals, learning from people who actually live there. You can take classes like I did at Peking University. You could use it to earn another major like I did in Chinese. And you can even pay for it with your financial aid. Because you're there for a semester, you can explore a lot. Landmarks, shrines, in capitals, markets, financial districts, back alleys, and villages. I even did a trip to Tibet. You see a government, a culture, religions that are mostly different than the ones you're familiar with function on a daily basis. And all of these future trajectories that you would never have known about or considered for yourself. All of them opened up. For me possibilities like diplomacy, international business, State Department, Peace Corps, journalist, teacher, coder, interpreter, and of course, grad school. I'd love to return to China for grad school. It's cool because your interests influences study away, but then you study away influences your interests. I know so many Mac students who've had great eye opening experiences. Friends have been to Scotland, Egypt, and Chile. I'm Thomas and that's my Macalester study away story.