Journeys That Start with a Boarding Pass and Change Everything

Yaritza Mora clutched her boarding pass and took a deep breath. Alone at the airport, bound for Barcelona, she wasn't just crossing time zones - she was crossing into a new phase of life.

She had traveled before, but never solo. This time, every step - from navigating terminals to finding her gate - felt like a rite of passage.

She had traveled once before with her mother to Italy, but this was different. This time, she was alone.

UC Merced's Study Abroad Program Among the Country's Best

Frida Quinto Ruiz went to Sweden with a curious mind. She came home with a plan.

"Studying abroad completely reshaped the direction of my college career in ways I never expected," she said. "I went to Sweden already curious about the world, but I came back with a much clearer sense of where I want to go."

During a tour of the European Union in Brussels, Quinto Ruiz learned about the Fulbright Binational Business Program. The fourth-year economics major applied to the program and recently interviewed to join it after she graduates in May.

UC Merced Trustee Denise Watkins Establishes New Scholarship to Encourage Students to Study Abroad

UC Merced undergraduates who dream of expanding their educational horizons by immersing themselves in foreign cultures and far-away countries now have access to vital financial aid for that goal, thanks to a generous gift from longtime Board of Trustees member, donor, and student support advocate Denise Watkins.