Finding Home at Sea: How One Semester Built a Lifetime of Connection

“Going on SAS changed my life. It showed me how strong, resilient, and capable I can be” (O. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026).

You might expect the impact of a college study abroad program to fade after seven years, but that is not the case for Semester at Sea alums Olivia and Damian Cornejo. The now-married couple agrees that this study abroad program was “…the most unique experience [they] ever had” (D. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026). While interviewing the Cornejos, I brought up questions of pre-voyage nerves, the powerful connections that they quickly formed, and finally the lasting impact of these relationships and the experience overall.

Were you nervous about living on a ship with strangers?

Olivia (center) and her voyage friends hold their EpiPens in solidarity.

Olivia shared that “strangers” were the least of her worries:

“I was nervous about not having my safety net — being so far from my family and traveling to countries where I didn’t speak the same language. I have an anaphylactic peanut allergy, and I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to communicate that in certain countries” (O. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026).

While Olivia’s fears centered around her safety, Damian had social reservations and expressed his concern about “spend[ing] four months with hundreds of people I’d never met” (D. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026). Despite their apprehensions, these college students took a brave step toward their futures, a decision they grew to realize was one of the most pivotal moments in their young adult lives.

Creating Bonds: How did being on the ship accelerate or intensify the connections you made?

Damian noted that early on, “The close quarters and shared excitement made it very easy to talk to new people” (D. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026). The students felt they were living something not many others could relate to, and that bonded them quickly. Olivia also remembered that stress seemed to be a catalyst for connection; they had to trust their peers to problem-solve together and look after one another in situations they had never been in before.

“Traveling in a foreign country is stressful and confusing — even scary at times — but it’s also amazing, full of joy, and life-changing” (O. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026).

Damian, Olivia, and Semester at Sea voyage friends posing for a photo in front of the beach.

The Impact After

Damian (left) and Olivia (right) stand on the ship with an expansive ocean in the background.

I asked the couple how doing Semester at Sea affected their romantic relationship with one another. Olivia shared:

“It really challenged us to have open, honest, and respectful conversations and bonded us in shared experiences.”

Damian had similar sentiments, remembering how he and Olivia actively chose to take care of each other during difficult moments on the voyage.

“My understanding of the world was changed by this experience — mostly by showing me just how large and complex it is, and how little I’ll ever really know” (D. Cornejo, personal communication, 2026).

Semester at Sea doesn’t just show students the world.
It changes how they see it and who they become within it.