GS students Mahunan Agblonon and Yong Choi were selected for the Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute 2013 Global Scholars Program, which encourages students to explore how politics, economics, labor, and other transnational issues influence development in real-world setting. For six weeks over the summer, Choi and Agblonon, along with nine other Columbia Global Scholars, met with government officials, business leaders, and organizations and individuals involved in urban and rural labor in Beijing, China, and Santiago, Chile.
“One of our most memorable encounters was with the former president of Chile, Ricardo Lagos. We had all read his book, The Southern Tiger, which allowed us to have an informed discussion about the path of development in Chile and, more broadly, Latin America,” Choi said.
Choi, who grew up in Paju, a small town in South Korea, was working as a bank teller before enrolling at GS. She hadn’t planned to attend college in the United States, but a trip to New York City inspired her to want to study in a more diverse environment. The Global Scholars Program furthered this goal, exposing Choi to unfamiliar cultures in a meaningful way.
“The majority of professionals we spoke to repeatedly emphasized that ‘Beijing does not represent China.’ As foreigners, this was a difficult statement to understand, until we visited places like Tianjin and saw it for ourselves. The cultural experiences revealed to us were invaluable,” Choi said.
Like Choi, Agblonon came to New York City to pursue his studies. He was born and raised in Benin, a West African country that is ranked among the poorest in the world, and moved to the United States after graduating from high school in 2009. After spending a year adjusting to the language and culture, he enrolled at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Conn., where he excelled and was eventually inspired to apply to GS.
Growing up in Benin undoubtedly had an impact on Agblonon’s desire to participate in the program.
“Africa can no longer be content to be a continent of poverty, pandemics, and socially and physically imbalanced wars. It has sufficient resources for its development. To achieve this, it needs to seize new instruments of combat—not to reduce poverty, but to stop producing it,” Agblonon said.
Agblonon plans to pursue graduate studies in economics, specializing in issues of growth, redistribution of wealth, and development, with the goal of applying his knowledge to combat poverty in Africa, while Choi intends to look for work with a management consulting firm in order to gain experience in diverse industrial fields. Eventually, she hopes to find a position in sustainable development, using her experience to contribute to encouraging agricultural industries in developing countries.
Students are invited to attend an information session about the 2014 Global Scholars Program on Fri., Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. in the Marshall D. Shulman Seminar Room, 1219 International Affairs Building. Visit the Office for Global Engagement website to learn more about the program and apply.
