Study Abroad Peer Advisers
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The CIPE Study Abroad Peer Advisers are students who have already studied abroad during their time at Yale and want to help you navigate Yale's wide range of study abroad opportunities. CIPE Study Abroad Peer Advisers:
Learn more about these students and their experiences below. Contact a CIPE Study Abroad Peer Adviser today!
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| Peer | Major | Study Abroad Location | |
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| Erin Biel ES '13 |
Global Affairs, Ethnicity Race and Migration | Middle East, Southeast Asia | |
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| Christina Bui BR '13 |
African American Studies | Africa, Latin America, South Asia, Middle East | |
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| Paul Han CC '14 |
Psychology | East Asia | |
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| McKenna Keyes TC '14 |
History | Europe | |
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| Megha Okhai SY '13 |
Economics and Global Affairs | UK, South Asia | |
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| Becky Poplawski TD '13 |
Environmental Studies | Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia | |
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Erin Biel
Erin Biel, ES '13, is a Global Affairs (International Security Track) and Ethnicity, Race, & Migration double major. Erin has received the Richter Fellowship three years in a row in order to perform journalistic research in such places as Indonesia and Turkey. However, her most “memorable” experience abroad to date occurred when she first attempted to study abroad in Egypt at the American University in Cairo (AUC) during the Spring 2011 semester. Three weeks after arriving, the “January 25 Revolution” began in Egypt, and she shortly-and reluctantly-thereafter found herself on a MedEx flight back to the US. Eager to be back in Cairo, Erin was thankful that Yale permitted her to return to AUC for the Fall 2012 semester, where she was able to further pursue her passions of journalism and refugee issues—and even observed the country's first democratic parliamentary elections! Her experiences in Egypt piqued her interest in democratic transitions more generally and will now be spending part of her 2012 summer conducting research on Burmese refugee issues and political reforms in Burma and Thailand through a CIPE Research Fellowship for Juniors. Erin looks forward to encouraging others to spend time abroad during the school year, particularly to places that are slightly off the beaten path.
Christina Bui
Christina Bui, BR '13, is an African American Studies major and pre-podiatry student who spent last semester abroad in three different countries (India, Argentina, and South Africa) studying health and community with the International Honors Program. Learning about the social determinants of access to health has added to her desire to become a healthcare practitioner one day. And, her favorite way to be in a country is with a host family and she delights in the practical lessons that come with studying abroad: grappling emotionally and mentally with hard issues, gaining travel know-how, navigating group dynamics, interacting with yourself and people who are different from you, but who are also fundamentally the same. Before this program, she also spent the summer after freshman year studying Arabic in Jordan and the subsequent summer discussing faith with university students in Turkey. Now, she is excited to continue to unpack the things she has learned while away from Yale and to see how it will influence her senior year. And, she is extremely grateful for the opportunities that Yale has provided and she hopes to see more students study abroad. It's worth it!
Paul Han
Paul Han, CC' 14, had the awesome opportunity to study Korean language in South Korea this past summer through the Richard U. Light Fellowship. Each day after class, Paul also worked at a laboratory at the Yonsei University College of Medicine, where he participated in projects based on utilizing stem-cells to treat spinal cord injuries. Outside of the classroom and laboratory, Paul fully immersed himself in the Korean lifestyle: singing karaoke, eating unsanitary but delicious food from street carts, and haggling for lower prices (and failing). He also climbed Mt. Halla-san (the highest mountain in Korea)! "Studying the language and connecting with my Korean identity made for an invaluable experience that I will never forget, and the amount of opportunities offered by Yale made it surprisingly easy for me to go abroad."
McKenna Keyes
McKenna Keyes, a TC '14 history major, returned to Yale for her junior year after spending seven consecutive months abroad. During the spring semester 2012 she studied alongside Spanish students at the Universidad de Sevilla through the CIEE Advanced Liberal Arts program in Seville, Spain. The full-immersion experience was one of her favorite aspects of the program, in that she not only had a Spanish roommate, but was also the only American living in her university dorm. In summer 2012, McKenna was then fortunate enough to continue her studies abroad with Yale Summer Session in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which focused on the history and culture of southeastern Europe. "I wish I could tell every Yalie how enriching - and fun - a semester and/or summer abroad can be. Students often worry that they will miss out on certain opportunities if they leave Yale, but there are just as many incredible opportunities waiting for them overseas. Studying abroad is full of exciting, challenging experiences that you won't find at home. Do it!"
Megha Okhai
Megha Okhai, SY '13, is an Economics and Global Affairs major from Tanzania. In the summer of 2011, she completed the Yale Summer Abroad Program in Mumbai, which provided an invaluable new perspective on her cultural heritage. Amidst the excitement of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics, she spent her junior year abroad studying the General Course at the London School of Economics. Megha strongly believes that the adventure of studying abroad is true to the Yale spirit and looks forward to helping fellow Yalies find opportunities to create their own memorable experiences abroad.
Becky Poplawski
Becky Poplawski, TD '13, is an Environmental Studies major with a concentration in Food and Agriculture. She received the Thomas Barry Fellowship in 2011 to spend the summer doing conservation work for two months in the Galapagos Islands. Following that, she spent a semester in Denmark studying Sustainable Development at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. In the summer of 2012, Becky received the Friedman Family Fellowship and the Environmental Summer Fellowship in order to work on research for her senior thesis in Hanoi, Vietnam. "Every time I go abroad I discover something new about myself and the place I want in our world. It has shaped my college experience and helped form my post-graduation plans. The study abroad opportunities and funding that Yale offers are a resource that all Yalies should take advantage of."
