I have now lived in Edinburgh for two months, and I recently had a week off of class and had the opportunity to travel around Europe. Now that I have seen a little bit more of the world, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my identity as an American, specifically a black male American, abroad.

One student is coming to terms with his sexuality halfway across the world. “In my hometown, there are some gay people I know. They never told others they are gays. They do not want to show their sexualities to others, so they pretend to be straight,” said University of Iowa student Shanyi Shang.