✨YISS 2026 Highlights✨

From IEE3611-01 CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH Class (Prof. Ansuk Jeong)

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Akaraka! And greetings from the 2026 Yonsei International Summer School Program! This is Esther, Olivia, Pooreum, and Lilian reporting live from the new Cultural Psychology Research intensive in the heart of Yonsei.

At first, spending our summer abroad in a foreign country with no friends and family felt not only lonely but also challenging. Having to find your own friends and people that you can belong with in the 4 or 6 weeks that you're here is really tough.

However, through the support of the teachers and other support systems like the people in our classes, we were able to form connections really quickly. Some things that stood out to us were our snack parties and team-building activities in our research course that helped bring our group closer, more than just teammates to lifelong friends.

Our research course itself had a really rewarding pace. The first two weeks felt slow at times, since we were learning all the foundational details, research methods, and background theory we needed before we could even begin our own project. But that groundwork paid off, because the pace picked up quickly from there. Our last two weeks were an absolute whirlwind, packed with ethics lessons, data collection, poster making, and paper writing, all happening practically back to back. Looking back, that build-up was exactly what we needed as it gave us the confidence and skills to actually execute a full research project in such a short amount of time.

And yes, while waking up to come to our 9 am classes was difficult (as it always is), it's really the lessons that we learn and take from the experience that create who we are today. Without the support of Yonsei, Dr. Ansuk Jeong, and the YISS TAs, we wouldn't have been able to create our very own research paper and poster. Thanks to the funding of YISS, we were able to print our posters and share them with the general public as well! From this course, we gathered public speaking experience, learned deep research skills, and managed to learn how to effectively utilize data analysis programs like YISS.

Outside of the classroom, you could see us exploring the grounds of campus by taking a quick break in one of the many libraries, posing in front of Underwood Hall, and listening to concerts in the auditorium. If we're talking one step further off campus, you could see people from all different walks of life wearing and repping Yonsei merch in Sinchon and further local places like Jeju and Busan!

YISS truly made it so accessible for students to learn and grow as individuals while giving enough space for us to truly learn what it's like to live in Seoul. If you're on the fence about it, we'd say go for it. Whether you're chasing research experience, personal growth, or just want to see what it's like to live in Seoul for a summer, YISS gives you all of that and more. We couldn't recommend it enough to any student considering it.

We all can't wait to come back one day in the future (maybe once again as Yonsei students?!!!) to relive and make new memories in a place that's captivated our hearts.

So for one last time, Seoul's caught my soul! Thank you, Yonsei, YISS, all the teachers, faculty, TAs, and other students who made this the most wonderful and amazing summer to remember for a lifetime!

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One of the highlights of our YISS experience was participating in our Cultural Research class! Not only did we get to learn about the fundamentals of conducting research we also got to explore topics we are passionate about! Over the course of six weeks we gained confidence in our research skills and our presentation ability. Furthermore, this class gave us the opportunity to learn with students from around the world which expanded our understanding of research possibilities. We gained invaluable skills that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. We also made lifelong friends in this course and we are excited to cheer each other on as we enter into the next steps of our lives!

From IEE1173-01 SCIENCE MEDICINE AND SOCIETY & GENETICS Class (Prof. Jon Soderholm)