Undergraduate engineering student Carli Brucker studied abroad in Hong Kong during the summer of 2015. To help fund her study abroad experience, Brucker used the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant. She also applied for and received a Global Engineering Scholarship. Brucker pursued a second academic experience abroad through the course International Perspectives:  Xicotepec. The course involved a service-learning experience over Spring Break in Xicotepec, Mexico.

After interning with the Pella Corporation last summer, Brucker looks forward to spending the summer of 2017 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to complete an internship with the Eaton Corporation.

Carli Brucker

Hometown:  Ankeny, Iowa

Field of study:  Mechanical engineering major; mathematics minor

Campus leadership and involvement: 

• Teaching Assistant (Engineering Problem Solving II)
• Engineering Tutor
• Dance Marathon
• Continental Crossings
• Society of Women Engineers
• Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honors Society)
• Robotics Club
• OnIowa Leader

You studied abroad at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – what was the campus like?

One of the coolest parts about the campus was the views and the fact that it was right on the water so you could literally walk 100 yards away from the outdoor track and you'd be on the beach. You woke up every morning to these gorgeous views of the bay outside your window. They had great classrooms there, they had several cafeterias, lots of study spaces, and a good community of people.

Any “favorites” from your time abroad?

One of my favorite parts about Hong Kong was the food. I love food, and they had so many different cultures there, that means they also had so much food! So, pretty much every weekend I got to enjoy delicious Indian food, lots of different Hong Kong local food, dim sum was very popular there -- it was very good. Japanese food was very popular, and that was also really good. They even had a lot of different American foods, so, there was never an end to the food!

What did you think of Hong Kong?

A cool part about Hong Kong is that it's very diverse in its people, but it's also very diverse in landscape. So, you have skyscrapers, and then a mile away you have a mountain.

How did you spend your free time?

One cool opportunity I had while in Hong Kong was, I got to do a lot of hiking which is one of my passions. We went to a place called Dragon's Back which had beautiful overlooks into a bay area and little towns. One weekend we got the opportunity to travel to Guangzhou. We walked around for hours just exploring the city and seeing the sights and it was really incredible.

Carli Brucker hiking at Dragon's Back in Hong Kong

What advice do you have for other students considering study abroad?

My advice for anyone thinking about studying abroad is to just go and do it! No matter what your study abroad program is, this might sound cliché—but you're going to have an incredible experience and it will give you a much different perspective about your life, but also about your culture. So, you find out a lot about other cultures, but you also find a lot about your own.

Learn more about Brucker’s study abroad experience here.