{"id":138,"date":"2019-02-19T16:19:10","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T00:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/center-for-global-education\/2019\/02\/19\/finding-my-roots\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T18:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:15:14","slug":"finding-my-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/center-for-global-education\/2019\/02\/19\/finding-my-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding my Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clio Brady \u201920 is a sociology major with a music minor who studied abroad at The Chinese University Hong Kong in Fall 2018. She shares her study abroad story, how it  changed her, tips for social media use while abroad and finally info on applying for study abroad scholarships. <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

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Hi! My name is Clio Brady. I am a transnational Asian-American adoptee. I was born in China and adopted when I was only one year old by a Caucasian family from the U.S. I\u2019ve lived in America for basically my whole life and hadn\u2019t been back to China until I studied abroad. I chose Hong Kong for a variety of reasons.  I wanted to practice my Mandarin that I\u2019d been learning for a few years and revisit my birth country, China. Side note: I realized later that in Hong Kong, Cantonese is more widely spoken. While abroad I did get to travel to seven other countries and also China. Going back to my roots is a whole other complicated story for another time about abandonment, governmental policies and Chinese culture. Overall though, I did have a fantastic trip back to my roots!<\/p>\n

Reflecting  on my study abroad experience I can say I\u2019ve changed a lot. Everybody says studying abroad changes you. I didn\u2019t realize how true this actually was until I also studied abroad. After studying abroad I am more independent, confident, passionate about life, and addicted to traveling. Once I left my own bubble I\u2019d been living in, America, I found myself out of my  comfort zone. Studying abroad gives you such a huge opportunity to make different memories, meet new friends, try new foods, go on amazing and weird adventures etc. I fell in love with different cultures and people. I gained a new appreciation for this big, wonderful world we all live in. I am thankful for my opportunities, privilege, friends, and family. I am less judgmental, less scared about the world, and less worried about what others think. I am more determined, complete and focused on the important things in life. My world opened up.<\/p>\n

Studying abroad is a self-discovery journey. You learn so much about yourself and others through traveling and being open to new experiences. I learned from my mistakes: missing a few flights, misunderstanding academic guidelines for midterms, losing money,  getting lost A LOT etc. I did grow up from those experiences. I learned from a different perspective that was eye opening and surprising. I left my home culture and embraced a whole new culture and I now see the world more holistically. I now consider myself a \u201cglobal citizen\u201d because even though I only visited Asia, I experienced more of the world than I ever have and met people from all over the world and learned\/lived in different cultures.<\/p>\n

My tips for using social media\/staying in touch abroad: <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to stay in touch while abroad. This can be because of several things: time difference, you just want to be present, bad service\/WiFi etc. There\u2019s a balance you need to find while abroad. It all depends on what your goals are. Do you want to really embrace\/live the host culture? Do you just want to do tourist things and take pictures? Learn the language? This balance has to be healthy. <\/p>\n