From an early age, Wells Renkens has been passionate about international travel, as he grew up listening to both his grandmother and mother share stories of their own travel adventures from college and post-graduation.

“My grandmother’s house has all of these relics and artifacts of travels and different cultures, and hearing all of those stories, I was always super excited to get out and explore the world when I got to be that age,” Renkens said.

After traveling across Europe through both family excursions and the Business Core Fast Track Program in the Harbert College of Business, Renkens felt like it was time to conquer a new continent: Asia.

Renkens, a junior in business analytics with a minor in business engineering technology, is studying at the prestigious Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, for the spring semester.

Yonsei University is highly competitive, with a selective admissions process that accepts only a small percentage of applicants each year.

Renkens is currently enrolled in five courses at Yonsei: business negotiations, management science, Korean philosophy, philosophy in East Asian literature and comparative philosophy in literature.

The process for course registration at Yonsei differs from Auburn, an experience that was unique and memorable to Renkens.

“You got 72 points that you used to bid on courses. Instead of Tiger Scheduler, where it’s first come first serve, you pretty much have to gamble,” Renkens said as he reflected on the registration process.

Unlike the U.S., Korea’s semester runs from early March to late June, Renkens said. Since arriving in South Korea in late February, Renkens has spent his free time exploring Seoul and neighboring cities.

“I like to pick a new place or area in Seoul and go and explore it or wander around, and sometimes I will get a recommendation,” Renkens said. “I befriended a worker at the dining hall and he gave me a big list [of travel spots].”

Despite language barriers being a daunting factor for many people when it comes to  international travel, Renkens has learned to embrace the uncertainty.

“I've just adopted an attitude that it's okay to make mistakes, have fun and just fully immerse yourself and experience it. When I keep that in mind, it's not too intimidating,” Renkens said.

Renkens has further integrated himself into the culture at Yonsei by trying out for and making the basketball team. He will be participating in the President’s Cup, which is an annual tournament of men's basketball teams from universities nationwide.

At Auburn, Renkens has expressed his passion for culture through his position as the vice president of operations and international programs for the International Student Organization. In this position, Renkens was responsible for planning weekly social hours and coordinating events with various student culture organizations, such as the Vietnamese Student Association.

Renkens has also pursued his other passion, entrepreneurship, by participating in multiple pitch competitions within Harbert College.

At the third-annual Auburn Ideas Jam, Renkens won a $1,000 prize for his business idea, OperaTech, a training model used to simulate various challenges student nurses may face when inserting an IV.

Following the pitch competition, Renkens consulted with both the college of nursing and the college of orthopedic medicine, receiving valuable insights that allowed him to begin developing functional prototypes.

Renkens has felt strong support from the Auburn family in his endeavors, specifically in Harbert College.

“The business analytics department in particular has been really great. They have been super open and encouraging of my less traditional path within analytics,” Renkens said. “Some professors in the department are from South Korea, so they were excited about me coming [to Seoul] and offered me connections, advice and places to go.”

When Renkens graduates in the spring of 2026, he plans to gain experience working for an established company before pursuing his ultimate goal of creating his own company– a goal made achievable through the years of valuable experience gained from both Auburn and abroad.

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