“Ever since I was a child, riding scooters with a smile on my face, my family knew I was a free spirit. I'm from Denia, in the Spanish province of Alicante, and the only one from my family to have left home. At 16, I came to the U.S. for a year-long foreign exchange program and fell in love with this country. So I'm not 100% sure where 'home' is.
“I was born in Belgium & grew up in London since age 3. Weirdly, I can't vote in any of the countries I care for. In Belgium, I have no community other than family, since I left so young. I care so much about the UK & Brexit, but can do nothing about it politically because I wasn't born there. Just when I was becoming a “Londoner” & involved in community work, I left for Yale. I've spent 2 years grappling with American politics, Yale's relationship to New Haven & other issues I had no knowledge of before.
“I enjoy being busy, especially when that involves work I truly love. Before coming to the US, I was extremely busy as a physician conducting experiments, and also a mother. When my husband, who is currently an Associate Research Scientist (ARS) at the Yale Medical School, came to the US in 2017, I was simultaneously working as a dermatologist and completing my PhD in dermatology in Japan. Since I was so enthusiastic in my clinical work and research, I did not want to suspend them, and finally joined my family after graduation last year.
“I was born and raised in Nakuru, Kenya. My family and I have a complicated relationship. Growing up, I was very close to them, especially since I only have 2 brothers. After leaving for boarding school in South Africa, our relationship grew more complicated. I was discovering things about myself that my family wasn't as comfortable learning, so I found myself living almost a double life. The 'me' at school and the 'me' at home were not the same person; at home I would need to cover things up.
“I was born in Hong Kong, but my family moved to Auckland when I was 9. My journey to Yale began within the week of my thesis submission in 2017, I packed up everything, came over to America & started my new life. What an amazing journey it has been so far!
“My favorite part of Yale has been the community the international student body provides. For my first 3 years I was involved in OIS, which was one of the most wonderful & rewarding experiences of my time at Yale. There is something incredibly special about bringing together people from different parts of the world & seeing how quickly they grow close to each other-partly because they have the shared experience of being far away from home. Being part of the OIS team gave me the chance to both witness friendships blossoming & also to feed off the energy personally.
“The most beautiful things about Yale are all the people you meet. When I arrived on campus for the Orientation for International Students (OIS), I was sad to see my mom leave. It suddenly hit me that I was 2 oceans away from everything I knew to be familiar, and everyone I loved. I was now in a new place where I'm just another face–another student in a class. I started to feel small and invisible. At Yale though, since you have access to all these different spaces, I learned the importance of actively choosing the people you surround yourself with.
“I was born in London, but spent my childhood in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, and Miami before coming to Yale. My upbringing was both composed and defined by change. The only constants were the three other people living through it all with me. As a result, I am completed by my family, and am nothing without them. My brother is the centre of my life, my mom is my best friend, and my dad is my hero. Having each other was the only source of solid ground–especially when we felt most alone.
“I was born in South Korea, but I grew up in the Philippines. Not really returning to Korea, felt very much like never being “home”. I had to both reimagine and recreate that feeling with the friends and communities I was with.
“I grew up near Henley, where rowing is everything. Upperclassmen in my school were famous for winning the famous Henley Regattas every year. I admired them greatly for their success, and thought I could maybe create my own athletic potential. So I started training. I had no idea what I was doing, but there was a rowing machine in the shed, and a couple of weights. One day, I broke one of our school records, which boosted my confidence. Ambition somewhat followed achievements; the school record turned into a world record, and contemplating the Olympics first came at the age of 15.
