Hey everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic summer! Mine is off to a great start.

I spent the first two weeks of my summer in South Korea with my iPodia class. Cassandra, Steve, Vlad, Gavin, Zach, and Lyssa were also there! I had an unforgettable experience in South Korea. The city we were staying in was beautiful Daejeon- home of KAIST campus. It was wonderful to reconnect with the KAIST students who visited us back in February- and just as great to meet our other classmates from China, Israel, and Germany in person!

Here were some of the highlights from our stay:

-Visiting the Jeonju Traditional and Cultural Center, where we made Bibim-bop, an authentic Korean dish, learned about Korean theater and percussion, and even learned how to host a traditional tea party.

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-Attending the USC Global Conference, where we saw a few familiar faces- Viterbi Dean Yortsos and USC President Max Nikias.

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-Getting an up close look at a Hyundai production facility

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-Going to the World IT Show

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-And who could forget, presenting our final projects with our international teammates!

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The trip was part of a class, so we did have a lot of work to do while we were there- but that didn’t stop of from having fun. Being in a new and unknown city for a couple of weeks was the perfect way for me to mentally transition into summer after such a busy semester. Plus, I made tons of great new friends!

When I got home from South Korea, I spent a few days having fun with some high school friends. Highlights of the week: Going to a live taping of “The Voice” (and if you’ve ever met me, you know I’m a diehard Maroon 5/Adam Levine fan) and going to an Angels vs. Cubs baseball game! If you were wondering, the Cubs won.

Since then, I’ve started my internship at Boeing. I love it so far!  I’ve been given really great assignments and I’ve been able to draw on what I’ve learned in multiple classes back at USC- but I’ll save all of this for another blog!

Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Until next time!