UA Little Rock Senior Gains Global Perspective Through Summer in Thailand
Graphic-design major Skylar Boone studies abroad in Chiang Mai and returns with newfound confidence and independence
Skylar Boone, a senior graphic-design major at University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a native of Little Rock, spent the summer of 2025 studying abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from June 29 to August 10. During her stay she enrolled at Chiang Mai University, where she took courses in psychology, sociology and Thai language.
From the outset, Boone decided to step out of the familiar and choose Southeast Asia over a European destination.
She recounted how she was drawn to Thailand for its affordability, beauty and welcoming people, despite never having visited the region before.
While in Chiang Mai she immersed herself in local culture: practising Thai greetings such as the wai, using the phrase “mia pen rai” (“never mind” or “it’s okay”) and learning the rhythm of a society where calm prevails in daily life.
Some of her most memorable experiences included visiting an elephant sanctuary, kayaking through mangrove forests and hiking to a hill-tribe village in northern Thailand where she sampled freshly grown coffee.
She also fondly recalled the beaches of Krabi, describing them as “so picturesque that it almost didn’t feel real, like something out of a postcard.” She highlighted that the people she met—both fellow American students and Thai friends—were the most rewarding part of the journey.
Boone emphasised that the experience taught her key life skills valuable to her future career in graphic design and beyond.
“I feel like it taught me a lot about independence and being out of my comfort zone,” she said.
Initially “totally out of my element”, she said she grew through active engagement with new people and culture.
She urged others to embrace such growth: “It’s important to do things that make you uncomfortable, because that’s how you grow.
That’s the main lesson I took away.”
The study-abroad experience in Thailand thus marked for Boone not only an academic undertaking but a period of meaningful personal and professional transformation.
Returning to Little Rock with fresh outlook, she is poised to bring her expanded cultural understanding into her work and life.
From the outset, Boone decided to step out of the familiar and choose Southeast Asia over a European destination.
She recounted how she was drawn to Thailand for its affordability, beauty and welcoming people, despite never having visited the region before.
While in Chiang Mai she immersed herself in local culture: practising Thai greetings such as the wai, using the phrase “mia pen rai” (“never mind” or “it’s okay”) and learning the rhythm of a society where calm prevails in daily life.
Some of her most memorable experiences included visiting an elephant sanctuary, kayaking through mangrove forests and hiking to a hill-tribe village in northern Thailand where she sampled freshly grown coffee.
She also fondly recalled the beaches of Krabi, describing them as “so picturesque that it almost didn’t feel real, like something out of a postcard.” She highlighted that the people she met—both fellow American students and Thai friends—were the most rewarding part of the journey.
Boone emphasised that the experience taught her key life skills valuable to her future career in graphic design and beyond.
“I feel like it taught me a lot about independence and being out of my comfort zone,” she said.
Initially “totally out of my element”, she said she grew through active engagement with new people and culture.
She urged others to embrace such growth: “It’s important to do things that make you uncomfortable, because that’s how you grow.
That’s the main lesson I took away.”
The study-abroad experience in Thailand thus marked for Boone not only an academic undertaking but a period of meaningful personal and professional transformation.
Returning to Little Rock with fresh outlook, she is poised to bring her expanded cultural understanding into her work and life.
