10/01/2026
Humans of Wesleyan 🎬3️⃣6️⃣
"This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend two weeks in South Korea as a recipient of a Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) Award. Over the course of the trip, I visited 14 Korean universities across the country with a cohort of eight other international educators from institutions all over the U.S. We learned about the higher education system in South Korea and how different universities approach the work of internationalization on their campuses.
We started in Seoul, then traveled to Gangneung on the scenic northeast coast, then south to Chuncheon, Pohang, Daegu, and then Busan on the southern coast. Indeed, it was a busy, whirlwind two weeks of traveling, seeing, meeting, learning, and eating.
Thinking back on my time in South Korea, a flood of fond memories rushes through my mind: wandering amidst the vibrant and soothing scenery of Jogyesa Temple; having my personal color analysis done by beauty education faculty at Sungshin Women’s University (“winter” was determined to be my seasonal palette!); taking a night stroll along scintillating Gwangalli Beach in Busan where my cousin, Adam Keller ’14, once taught for the English Program in Korea (EPIK); spending hours in community with new colleagues and friends, crisscrossing the beautiful countryside by bus, meeting Korean international educators, Fulbright staff and alumni, students, and even a chancellor; learning the word “Hallyu” (“Korean Wave” pop culture) and seeing a billboard of Jennie from BLACKPINK and proudly knowing who she was because my older daughter is a diehard “BLINK”; and trying new foods whose Korean names were lost on me in translation at the buffets, but not their delicious flavors.
My experience was like a mini sabbatical, a short-term study abroad sojourn for an international educator. It was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. If I could wake up tomorrow an undergraduate student again, I think I would choose to study abroad in South Korea and return to that wondrous country to dive deeper into its language and culture."
- Morgan Keller, Director of the Office of International Student Affairs (OISA)
