Remote Learning

Summer 2023

Each year, Rice's Study Abroad Office invites students to share unique images of their educational experiences via a photography contest and exhibit. Here are a few of the award-winning photos that were on display in the Ley Student Center this spring.

“Breezy Day at the Beach” 
Torres del Paine, Chile | Spring 2022
The School for Field Studies | Wild Patagonia: Fire and Ice 
Kyle Dickens ’22 spent his final spring semester studying abroad in Patagonia. “There aren’t many study abroad experiences where the commute to class involves walking through katabatic winds (downhill winds from a glacier),” he says. “Many of our lectures took place in the field — seeing glaciers, snowcapped mountains, wild rheas and guanacos (relatives to the llama) was commonplace.”

“The Northern Lights”
Reykjavik, Iceland | Fall 2022
School for International Training | Climate Change and the Arctic
Lucian Bennett-Brandt ’23 captured this stunning image of the northern lights before sitting down to dinner on a December evening in Reykjavik. “There were only around six hours of sunlight,” he says. “We would all go outside every night and watch the lights dance in the sky. There was something so special about ending what felt like every day by seeing arguably the most beautiful natural phenomenon in the world.”

“Alpine Oasis”
Berne, Switzerland | Fall 2022
School for International Training | Global Health and Development Policy
While studying abroad, William Zhang ’24 took up the national pastime in Switzerland — hiking. “We took advantage of Switzerland’s natural gifts and made the Bernese Alps our first hiking destination. While we originally intended to conquer the mountains, nature quickly conquered us instead with its beauty, and we grew to understand why the Swiss place significant effort on environmental preservation — an effort the U.S. should strive to match. I was also conquered by nature in the sense that I wore sneakers to a trail covered with ice, and I was just happy to survive the descent instead of falling thousands of kilometers to an untimely demise. This alpine lake was one of the many resting stops along my path through the Alps, and this picture was my favorite among the many reminders I had of an otherwise terrifying adventure."

“Hygge”
Copenhagen, Denmark | Spring 2022
DIS | Study Abroad in Scandinavia
“Hygge is a well known yet unique Danish word that describes coziness and comfort,” writes Jeannie Lee ’23 of the concept she encountered during her study abroad semester in Copenhagen. “I loved walking into the warm atmosphere of cafes and restaurants after a cold day to feel the ‘comfortable conviviality.’” 

“The Best Time of the Day”
Geneva, Switzerland | Spring 2022
School for International Training | Banking, Finance and Social Responsibility
Grace Wei ’23 appreciated the “simplicity of everyday life” during her study abroad trip to Geneva. “I made a routine out of an experience that wasn’t part of my routine,” she says. “Walks along Lake Geneva now translate into walks on the Outer Loop. It’s these small parts of my life, abroad or in Houston, that make a place a home.”