Overall Winner: Tessa Schwartz
“While I loved living in and exploring the city of London itself, I definitely took advantage of its easily accessible transportation network & had the incredible opportunity to visit a few countries over the semester! Scotland was one of my favorite weekend trips - some friends and I took an overnight bus to Edinburgh, rented a car and drove up to the Isle of Skye to go hiking in the Scottish Highlands. It was one of the most beautifully scenic drives I’ve ever experienced, and we were able to stop at numerous medieval castles, fishing villages, and historical sites like Loch Ness! We lucked out with an incredibly rare sunny and cloudless February weekend, giving us amazing cliffside trail views as well as the opportunity to track down a streetside farm and see some iconic Highland Cows up close. Another travel highlight was getting to visit Morocco. After exploring the lively city of Marrakech, we took a three-day trip into the Sahara desert and spent a night in a tented camp. We rode camels through a sandstorm, went sandboarding at sunrise, and ventured back on ATVs - but made a pit stop to take in the amazing landscape.”

(Tessa is a senior studying Economics with minors in Film & Marketing. In Spring 2024, She studied abroad at UCL in London, England through IFSA.)

People Winner: Maeve Feinblatt
“I was in Morocco from May-July studying Arabic and Darija (the local dialect) while living with an incredible Moroccan family in the capital, Rabat, taking 5 hours of language class a day! One weekend the other students and I arranged for a van to take us out into the Merzzouga desert... a 17-hour journey south of where we study! We set off in the evening after class, and after an (albeit very hot) ride out to the desert, we ended up at a base where we had also arranged for a 2-hour camel ride further into the sahara. From there we rode to a camp site and spent the night in tents, enjoying traditional tajins, and learning Amazigh music around a campfire.

By far my favorite part of this excursion was the camels... I spent most of the journey playing with the camel behind me, and used our breaks for sandboarding as an excuse to give each camel in line some much-deserved attention. To be honest, I think my favorite part of my time in Morocco was spending that day in Morocco's Western Sahara alongside my new favorite animal. The views were more beautiful than I could describe, and I learned that those incredible photos I've seen of the desert are, to my delight, no filter. So, voila, an unedited image of the Sahara and the most noble four-legged friends you could have the pleasure of meeting.”

(Maeve is a junior double majoring in International Studies & Anthropology with minors in Islamic Studies and French.)

Places Winner: Andrew Kim
“I was working in the EPFL Microcity satellite campus located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland where I was developing a predictive model of intermetallic fragmentation within aluminum alloys as a result to of industrial processing. During my weekends or on days where I left the lab early, I spent my spare time traveling to nearby cities like Bern and Zurich or to other countries like France and Italy (all accessible by train!). One of the most notable was the mountain top of Stanserhorn where I took both an inclined trolley and a cable car up to the tourist platform up top. The view was absolutely astonishing - the lively green hills nearby with the snowy mountain peaks in the far back. There was a circular platform hanging from the side of the mountain and around the ledge showed the direction and distance of famous cities. If I could name an 8th wonder of the world my choice could be here.”

(Andrew Kim is a junior studying Materials Science and Engineering with minors in Applied Mathematics and Statistics & Entrepreneurship and Management. He studied in Neuchâtel, Switzerland at EPFL in Summer 2024.)

Miscellaneous Winner: Lavanya Gupta
“Haji Lane in Singapore is famous for eclectic boutiques, vibrant murals, and stunning mosques that can be seen from above. This photo shows the inside of a small store selling intricate tapestries and hanging, stained-glass lanterns. Singapore is home to a unique mosaic of cultures; food, art, and architecture are all areas where you can see these traditions come together. Haji Lane is next to Arab Street, which you can see the influence of in the style of the tapestries, lanterns, restaurants, and surrounding neighborhood of Kampong Glam.”

(Lavanya is a junior studying Chemical Engineering and Mathematics. She was part of the SERIUS program at the National University of Singapore in Summer 2024.)