Hi everyone!

I’m Mel. I’m a senior family social science major and I’m graduating tomorrow!!! In the fall I hope to be on my way to getting my master’s in social work. I can’t wait to visit Thailand as it will be a great wrap up at my time at the University of Minnesota. I’m sad it’s coming to an end, but this is an amazing way to say good-bye!

I’m stoked to go to Thailand as I’ve never visited Asia before. I love traveling and have traveled to many European countries, and I think Thailand will be something so out of my comfort zone…I can’t wait. My learning goal is to get to know people. I think a lot of what we do in Thailand will be learning from people and hear/see what Thai experiences look like first-hand.  I just want to totally immerse myself and get a different lens at life. I want to experience the temples and learn about Buddhism and everything that I’m not accustomed to. As I mentioned earlier, I hope to learn more about traditions, practices, and overall norms of people from Thailand. I hope to learn the language more so I am able to interact with the people we see (I will be learning the phrases on our long plane rides to Thailand).

I’m so excited to try new things, whether that be food, experiences, or something well out of my comfort zone. I’m excited to do things that I haven’t thought about! Overall, you can see my excitement and I can’t believe we are leaving in 4 days! See you all very soon 🙂