From traveling abroad and learning about new cultures to cultivating ever-lasting friendships and experiences, UNC Bears are definitely the adventurous type.

Below are five stories on what UNC students and faculty did over the summer.

Share YOUR summer experiences by tagging us on Twitter (@UNC_Colorado) to be retweeted!

The Price was Very Right

UNC Senior Zack Arnegard received a nice payday in July after he appeared on an episode of "The Price Is Right" in early June. 

Arnegard received over $10,000 after taxes and is using the money to pay down his student debt and cover the cost of completing his degree. 

"I grew up watching the show with my family, so to be a contestant on the show was really a cool experience," Arnegard said.

He competed on the show during a spring break mission trip to Los Angeles with the Navigators Summer Training Program.

View the GIF on Twitter that "The Price is Right" made of Zack after he won.

---

UNC Professor Teaches at a World Top University

UNC Professor of Africana Studies George Junne, Ph.D., taught an American literature course at Boğaziçi University located in Istanbul, Turkey, which was recently ranked as one of the top 200 universities in the world by the U.S. News and Global Report.

Since 1993, Junne has taught at UNC and has been teaching in the summers at Boğaziçi since 2000.

"In total, I have probably spent three years in Turkey, if you add up all the seven-week courses I have taught and the time spent on sabbatical at the university,” he said.

One of his most cherished moments is a student that he taught while first teaching at Boğaziçi University is now a professor. Junne plans on returning to Boğaziçi University as long as they continue to invite him.

---

A Trip Through Europe

UNC Professor of Marketing Vish Iyer, Ph.D., led students through Kraków, Poland, Budapest, Hungary, Bratislava, Slovakia, Vienna, Austria, and Prague, Czech Republic for the purpose of providing students in his International Business and Culture class an understanding of European cultural values and norms.

This summer, his class visited the Volkswagen Slovakia Factory. Iyer has taught the class for over 25 years and plans to continue until he retires. This course also presents students a firesthand experience to learn how cultural values translate into business practice.  

"Every trip is a little different, but my favorite part is always the students and learning experiences we have together," Iyer said.

---

Summer in the Colorado Mountains

UNC Senior Josh Parsons was a team leader at the Navigators Summer Training Program, a 10-week program where students work at the YMCA of the Rockies at Snow Mountain Ranch near Granby, Colo.

The program is divded into teams with four or five students including a team leader. Parsons led a weekly Bible study and met with each member of his team in a one-to-one discipleship.

"This was a experience for me, and I am so thankful to have been part of the 2018 program," Parsons said. "I increased my personal faith in Jesus, and I'm more confident in my ability to lead people in their journey to know Christ on a deeper level."

---

An Adventure in Japan

UNC Lecturer of Japanese Language Sumiko Gibson led an 11-day, study-abroad trip in Japan with 11 students. They visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and other major Japanese cities and fostered relationships between Greeley’s sister city, Moriya, and UNC's sister school, Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.

Prior to departure, the group spent a week studying the inner workings of Japanese society, the far-reaching influence of tgeur history, and helpful tips and phrases to use while traveling in Japan.

Jason Keller, a UNC student who took part in this trip, went in to more detail:

The city of Moriya hosted the students for four days, allowing them to have a more authentic experience in Japan. After traveling around Tokyo, the group took the Shinkansen (commonly known as The Bullet Train) further south to the city of Kyoto.

The first stop was the Inari Shrine in Kyoto, a Shinto shrine that travels along the spine of a mountain. Next was a trip to Okayama, where students visited the Himeji castle and explored its almost 700-year-old interior.

Afterwards, the group saw the Itsukushima Shrine, another Shinto shrine famous for its unique construction. The shrine is built on the coast of Miyajima island, so when the tide comes in, the shrine appears to 'float' on the water.

Among the more sobering parts of the trip was a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park, where students got to see first-hand the devastation left in the wake of the Hiroshima bombing.

This study abroad trip was a great intercultural experience and one that left some of the students eager to return to the island nation.

—Written by Jason Parsons and edited by Katie-Leigh Corder.