Penn Abroad Ambassador Rebecca Peng

Program:

• GRIP: Environmental Sustainability in Ho Chi Minh City

Ask me about...

• Traveling more around your host location while abroad

• Being spontaneous and finding things to do abroad

• Working at a company where you don’t know the language and English is not the main language

• Finding ways to contribute to a company as an intern with less technical knowledge

My Experience Abroad:

While I was in Vietnam, I had the chance to work as an AI intern. This experience taught me about a field of computer science that I hadn’t had any experience with before this summer, and it showed me that this was a field I’m interested in pursuing professionally. After the short introduction to AI concepts I got this summer in order to do my job, I was inspired to take more AI-related classes to deepen my understanding of these concepts. My supervisor was very passionate about my growth as a student even outside of this internship, so I received mentoring that introduced me to other possibilities I had with my CS degree. This summer, I learned so many technical skills, but I also learned so much from living abroad that I wouldn’t have been able to learn had I been in the US. I made friends and learned new skills despite language barriers, and I could not have asked for a better summer.

Other Highlights:

• Exploring north, central, and southern Vietnam and even traveling to Malaysia

• Playing foosball with my coworkers while on breaks at work

• Exploring lots of different shopping venues, from giant malls to chaotic markets

• Trying new foods and asking locals to introduce us to their favorites

• Getting to know and hanging out with local coworkers and university students