From a young age I was always very curious about the rest of the world. I grew up reading old national geographics, collecting maps and memorizing the flags of different countries. I knew that I wanted to travel and to experience different cultures, and build an understanding of various global perspectives in my adult years. Coming out of university I had the opportunity to travel to Uganda and I quickly became inspired by the resilience and work ethic of Ugandans. Despite struggling with issues such as corruption, poverty and health, the people there had a strong sense of pride and unity. I recognized that the definition of poverty was not what I had understood it as growing up. Rather than an absence of something material, poverty can be simply understood as a barrier to achieving one’s capabilities as Amartya Sen famously wrote. 

The International Development Studies (IDS) Masters program at HUFS provided me the rigorous foundations I needed to go on and work in the fields of community development and social justice. Placed within the framework of deconstructing our collective understandings of poverty and “underdevelopment,” the program, faculty and fellow colleagues allowed me to deepen my understanding of the multidimensionality of what “development” truly means. 

I had the opportunity to place my academic training into practice as an intern at the United Nations Green Climate Fund based in Incheon which kick started my career. Soon thereafter I completed my thesis with a field research component. This thesis would not have been possible without the support and belief of HUFS IDS instructors Prof. Yunjeong Yang, Prof. Helder Ferreira Do Vale, Prof. Moamen Gouda and Prof. Kadir Ayhan. Now I am working for an NGO based in Canada and I can say with certainty that the academic, cultural and life experiences HUFS-IDS provided me will stay with me for the rest of my life.