Longhorns Reflect on Their Globetrotting Adventures Studying Abroad

Each year, more than 5,100 Longhorns study, intern, and research across 100 countries. 

Illustrations by Nadia Radic 

Academic enrichment. Cultural awareness. Extraordinary adventures. The known benefits of bravely trekking across the globe during college to study abroad are many.   
But there’s also a nonquantifiable perk. That indelible thing that can’t be captured with a stamp on a passport, a grade on a transcript, or a picture on a phone.  It’s a deeply personal culmination of discovery and exposure that shifts your perspective forever.

The opportunity for UT Austin students to experience that transformational shift began in 1972, when the University rolled out a student exchange with Lima, Peru. Over the next 10 years, only about 160 UT students would travel internationally to study abroad, or about 16 students annually. At the time, issues such as travel costs, overseas tuition fees, and differences in education systems slowed the program’s progress.   
 

Now, Texas Global—UT’s global engagement arm—leads the University’s international education initiatives. And more than 5,100 Longhorns travel to more than 100 countries annually to study, research, or intern across 400 academic programs.

Dr. Sonia Feigenbaum heads the organization. Feigenbaum is the University’s senior vice provost for global engagement and its first chief international officer. She leads a massive, multi-pronged effort strengthening UT’s international presence. Under her leadership, UT now ranks third in the nation for the number of students studying abroad.

Feigenbaum sees international education programs as an opportunity to transform personal growth into global impact. “If we develop intercultural competency—if we, as individuals, try to understand where someone else is coming from, from a cultural perspective—we will be able to tackle very difficult questions, and we’ll be able to better understand ourselves,” Feigenbaum told The Daily Texan upon her appointment in 2018.

Feigenbaum also believes that any UT student should have access to this life-changing opportunity, regardless of financial position. Texas Global currently awards $1.8 million in scholarships annually.   

For Tommy Ward, BA ’02, MEd ’12, the experience not only contributed to his success—it defined his career. “As an undergraduate, I had the chance to study abroad twice,” Ward says, speaking of his travels to Spain and Brazil while he was an undergraduate student at UT. “It was an extremely formative part of my education, and something that, after participating in, I knew I wanted to dedicate my professional career to.”  

And that’s just what he did. Ward has worked in international education for more than 20 years, including leading Texas Global’s education abroad program as its current director. 

“Creating programming that couples the learning process in the classroom with the learning process outside of the classroom, makes for an extremely powerful educational opportunity,” Ward says.

It’s an opportunity that Longhorns not only seek out, but also evangelize, in stories swapped with their friends and parents, told over and over and for years to come.

Here are just a few. 

Destination: Spain  
Student: David Zulli, BA ’21  
“After my first week, I pushed myself to make a Spanish friend, someone who I could feel comfortable practicing Spanish with. Once we got past basic introductions, conversation proceeded to flow for the next hour and a half. We talked about passions, previous travel experiences, music, pop culture, dreams, and aspirations—all in Spanish. Here I was, the student who was too afraid to ask, ‘dónde está la puerta para el vuelo 8684,’ (where is the gate for flight 8684), having a relatively in-depth conversation with a native Spaniard.”  

Destination: Austria   
Student: Tanya Ladha, BA ’04, MBA, MPAff  ’13  
“I knew I wanted to study abroad before graduating, and I decided to spend a fall semester in Vienna, Austria. My mother was born in Vienna, and I went with her several times growing up. Those four months were filled with moments and memories so different from life in Austin. I was able to understand my mother and where she came from in a new way, while experiencing a European, urban metropolis. I still think of that time fondly.”

Destination: Denmark  
Forty Acres Scholar: Jeremiah Do, BS ’25, Life Member  
“During the summer after my freshman year at UT, I had a crazy idea: What if I took a class abroad? For many, this might not be a big leap, but for me, it felt like diving into the deep end. 

As a first-generation college student and the son of Vietnamese immigrants, the closest I had come to leaving the country was imagining the journey my parents took across the ocean to get here. I’ve always been curious about the world beyond our borders. As an aspiring aerospace engineer, I knew my future would involve exploring what lies beyond the skies, so it felt important to also understand what lies beyond the waters. 

After speaking with an advisor at Texas Global, I discovered the chance to take a class abroad with fellow Longhorns.  I still think about that summer. The ideas I was exposed to during those few weeks—bold innovation, sustainable design, and global thinking—have stayed with me throughout college and continue to guide where I’m headed next. That trip sparked a yearning to experience more.

That first study abroad didn’t just change how I see the world—it changed how I see my place in it, and how I hope to change the world in return.” 

Destination: South Africa   
Student: LeAnne Maduka, BSA ’20  
“Study abroad is scary. Yeah, I said it. International travel? Layovers in foreign countries? Budgeting? Interacting with locals? All of it made me extremely uneasy.

I wanted to be pushed outside of my comfort zone and forced into new experiences. I wanted to see things outside of my own little bubble and to not let my anxiety keep me from exploring what’s out there. Part of that is recognizing my own fear, but allowing myself to work past it in whatever ways that I can.”   

Destination: China   
Student: Jinnan Ren, BA ’22  
“I never felt time flying by so fast—one month passed by in the blink of an eye. If I had to choose one word to describe my life [that] month, I would say ‘happiness.’”

Destination: United Kingdom  
Student: Javier Granados II, BS ’19, PharmD ’24, Life Member   
“One of the many reasons I stayed at UT for pharmacy school was the opportunity to study abroad through the Pharmobility Program. I was one of two students assigned to the United Kingdom partner school, the University of Bath. 

This was my first time ever outside of the United States, so figuring out logistics and planning my work (and fun!) was exciting, yet stressful. UT’s international office, my pharmacy school administration, and Bath colleagues made my onboarding smooth. By the time I was about to check into my plane to London, I felt confident I was ready to take on the U.K.

Our six-week project was to help develop a molecule naturally derived from peppers to treat cancer cells. We were also tasked with finding similarities and differences in healthcare systems between the U.S. and the U.K.

From catching the MLB London Series game to spending a weekend in Dublin and eating as much fish and chips as my heart desired, I took full advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime ... and then some. I am forever grateful for the opportunity given by the UT College of Pharmacy and the University of Bath. Hook ’em!”  

Destination: Spain  
Student: Tèa Anderson, BS ’22, BA ’23   
“What I loved most about studying abroad was that no two days were identical. Even the most ordinary days felt a little more magical—eating popcorn during FC Barcelona games, solving mini-crosswords on the metro, watching sunsets on the beach in November. 

The importance of possessions quickly fell away, and I learned to be a human being instead of a human doing. I made lifelong friends, and the once-foreign streets became familiar—  no maps necessary. In our finite time, we made the city  
our own, saying yes to everything, even when all we wanted was to collapse into bed. Studying abroad was worth the wait. It reaffirmed that it’s the people that make a place, humanity is often kinder than it appears, and if you do not put yourself in the path of life, you miss it.”

Destination: Denmark   
Student: Cole Von Feldt, BArch ’23, Life Member
“As architecture students, we always study precedents throughout the world, but there is no comparison to experiencing a building or urban public space in person. While in Copenhagen, I took an urban design studio [course] and was immersed in the incredible urban landscape, which is a highly regarded—and commonly emulated—case study throughout design school. This was a monumental experience for me.”  

Destination: France  
Student: Caitlin James, BA ’11, Life Member  
“I’m currently an admissions officer for another university, so I frequently talk about this experience to all of my students. My favorite memories include all the jumping photos we took throughout France. I’m still friends with my ‘French sister,’ Laura. Her family hosted many students in the program over the years, and I’m so grateful for those connections. 

I always recommend faculty-led programs because they provided a lot of structure for someone like me who was intimidated by studying abroad independently. The program  gave me avenues to learn the language and see so many incredible places in France on the weekends.  Taking coursework with other UT classmates and faculty—while having preset destinations on the weekends—cultivated my love of travel and pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. I’ll never forget it.”  

 
 Destination: 24 countries  
Student: Sarah Scott, BA, BBA ’14 
“I asked for a passport for my birthday when I turned 16 in 2008. I didn’t use it until I was a sophomore at McCombs in 2012, when I got the opportunity to study abroad in Norway. I loved the experience so much that I did it twice more. By the end of college, through those three programs, I’d visited 24 foreign countries. I’ve since gone on to visit a total of 45 countries, all seven continents, and all 50 states! I credit my early study abroad experiences as the source of my confidence in solo traveling, as well as taking my adolescent wanderlust and turning it into an achievable reality that I continue to pursue to this day.” 

Destination: Soviet Union   
Student: Donita Lynn Robinson, BA ’91, PhD ’00  
“Snow surrounded us a foot or more thick. The fish soup at dinner was served with either a tail, mid-portion, or head in every bowl. It was hard to eat soup that stared back at you. Snowball fights were inevitable, and the sleigh rides were exhilarating.” 

*Photos and stories collected from Longhorn submissions, the Texas Global Ambassador blog, and UT archives. Text has been edited for length and clarity.