Office of Study Abroad

Profile: Hangil Ryu '20

Major/minor: Philosophy / Minors in Business and Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (C.A.S.T)

Year abroad: Fall 2018, Spring 2019

Reason you chose this program: I chose the Comedy Studies program at Second City because I was interested in learning more about the ins and outs of comedy. I chose SIT Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights because I was interested in bettering my Spanish and a friend was going to attend the same program.

Favorite classes: For the fall semester, my favorite class was Acting III: Sketch and Theatrical Comedy. The professor for that class is ridiculously amazing. Besides being an expert in the field and a great teacher, she is, more importantly, a compassionate person who genuinely cares for the well-being of her students. This ties into spring semester. The professors and coordinators for that semester were incredible — each four of them are amazing individuals. They are kind, caring, fun and uplifting. They helped make the classes and experiences one-of-a-kind. Favorite classes include History and Human Rights and Social Movements and Human Rights because of their excursion components.

Housing situation: In Chicago, I roomed with another student in the program, and in Buenos Aires, I was in a homestay.

Best memory: Eating pasta with my bromigos in Salta was literally not credible, because it was in-credible. Also, eating at La Cholita with them was so much fun.

Greatest challenge: I faced imposter syndrome at Second City because I had very little background experience with comedy. There is a danger in placing too much value on something like humor as it can be so fickle and sometimes so trivial, and I fell into that trap more than a couple times.

Did you apply for any scholarships? If so, which ones and how did they impact your time abroad? I applied for the Sachar Scholarship, and it helped me finance my Buenos Aires experience.

What you know now that you didn’t know before: There is a nuance to the commonality of our species which can be learned only from experience. It is a sameness found in our differences. The differences which at one point we thought as so large become trivial when contrasted to the profoundness of our commonality. I want to learn more about this.