Below you will find our scholar blog posts – they cover a variety of topics, from arriving in the U.S. to interning with a stellar company to post-graduation dreams.
 | August 10th, 2021, was the night I left Cambodia for the first time. I traveled with another scholar, Bong Pisey, whom I’m grateful for keeping me company on our nearly 9000 mile journey. From the almost 20 hours of flight to our layover in Korea, I felt strong excitement. It overwhelmed me in ways it never had before. |
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 | After completing my freshman year, I could not get back to visit my family in Cambodia due to the pandemic. Therefore, I need to find something productive to do during the summer break. At first, my mentor, Andrea, and I felt helpless because we could not find anything for me to apply for. I ended up only applying for only one internship. Luckily, I got it! |
| My summer internship was with Vital Voices, an organization that invests in women in order to improve the world. Vital Voices works with extraordinary women leaders accelerating peace and prosperity in their communities. My role is to research women leaders and politicians, finding out what they are currently up to. We use this research to determine what our organization can do to support them in their journey. In addition, I also work on keeping track of the current activities of Vital Voice’s fellows through their social media posts. |  |
| As I set foot in America for the first time last August, I’d thought of all the possibilities that lay in front of me. Still, I could never guess that my first academic year would diverge so abruptly from normal college freshman experiences. Amidst the challenges of the pandemic, I hung on, studied hard, fought loneliness, and tried to stay positive. All the while, I held out hope for a better sophomore year or at least a better summer experience. |  |
 | The program lasts for eight weeks, during which, each fellow uses their individual research to complete a digital project. Besides that, the cohort also collaborates in a digital humanities project. This year, we are creating a storytelling website based on the Albert Chance Collection of Gettysburg College’s special collection. Our project focuses on the wartime experience of Albert Chance, an American soldier during World War II who served in Italy and North Africa. For the past four weeks, I have learnt a lot about digital tools that are essential to interactive storytelling and digital humanity projects. |
 | As an international student in the U.S, homesickness is not new to me. During the past spring semester, however, it got extra challenging. The self-isolation I experienced from COVID-19 induced restrictions dramatically worsened my homesickness. All the enthusiasm, drive, and motivation I had in my first year began to fade, making it difficult to focus on anything I was doing. It was this strife that persuaded me to finally come home to Cambodia this summer. My first return in almost two years. It was not easy. |
 | It took a total of 37 hours from Gettysburg, PA to Cambodia including the 9-hour layover in Singapore. Fortunately, my layover in Singapore felt short thanks to all the check-in calls and texts from my SHE-CAN sisters Vuochnear and Dary, my mentors, family and friends. When I landed at Phnom Penh international airport, I had a feeling that I don’t even know how to put into words. The special feelings of joy, happiness and comfort that overwhelmed and choked me up a little, reminding me that “I’m finally home”. |
 | In addition to those things, I continue to play ukulele, sing for fun with my apartment mates, and penny board around campus. Another method I’ve used to improve my mental health is making use of the free counseling services at my school. My counselor has been so great in guiding me and providing me great advice on ways to take care of my mental health. Together, these activities make me happy and bring meaning to my life. |
| Through the Center for Public Service, a program that promotes social justice at Gettysburg, I am presented with possibilities to learn about social advocacy and other meaningful projects. During the fall of 2020, I was hired to be the program coordinator at the Painted Turtle Farm, a community garden and training center meeting the need for food justice in Adams County. This experience has allowed me to learn more about food justice and the challenges faced by local immigrant families. |  |