“I can be very cheesy and say that I’ve made another home for me in Florida, so in a sense I’m still at home. But I think that is disingenuous. A year is hardly enough for that to happen. I’ve been coping with being away by keeping myself engaged and staying in touch with my friends and family back home. I often find myself being treated like a domestic student at UF. Being an international student makes me inherently different, but I don’t want to be seen that way, so I love that. The family I met here has made UF a much smaller place and given me a sense of belonging. Being a committee member for Trung Thu and Tet as well as volunteering for the Pho fundraiser helped me grow a lot as a person. My first year in the US would have been much less meaningful otherwise.” 

– Lan Le, UF, 2nd year| Made the Deans List in both semesters last year!