I have always loved traveling, exploring, and immersing myself in different environments. When I was younger, I made scrapbooks of all the places I wanted to see and the cultures I hoped to learn about. I knew early on that I wanted to positively contribute to the world I was dreaming of exploring. I participated in Amnesty International youth activities, volunteered at every UNICEF drive hosted through my schools, and began advocating for animal welfare at a young age—giving up meat at nine and pushing for vegetarian options and animal welfare awareness at home and at school. As I grew older, I took every opportunity to travel. I first started with school-sponsored work-study programs, including teaching at Centro Educativo San Marcos in Limón, Costa Rica, while also spending time with a local marine conservation operation in nearby Isla Uvita. Later on, I began taking short solo international and domestic trips whenever I had time off work.

After graduating from undergrad, I worked in New York City’s arts and hospitality industries for a few years before reaching a turning point: I could either continue with the status quo or be bold and begin taking actionable steps toward the life I had long envisioned. I chose the latter.

I initially moved to South Korea to reconnect with my cultural heritage, enrolling in Korean language classes at Yonsei University while working full-time as a teacher. I later transitioned into a role as a curriculum and content developer in R&D at YBM, South Korea’s largest education company. Alongside my full-time work, I pursued several side projects, including contributing to the development of SMART commands for Korean tech companies such as Samsung, fostering animals, and co-curating an art exhibition held in conjunction with the 1,000th protest of the halmonis (Korean for “grandmother,” referring to the survivors known as Comfort Women), which featured artwork created by the halmonis themselves.

My time in South Korea marked the beginning of a deeper external and internal journey. Between 2011 and 2018, I lived and worked throughout the Asia-Pacific, the United Kingdom, and Europe in EFL education development and operations management. I collectively spent nearly a year during that time backpacking on my own whilst working remotely for an education company, RISE Global Education. I lastly worked in Rizhao and Shanghai, China before returning to the U.S. to pursue a Master’s in Global Affairs. While formally concentrating in Peacebuilding, I also completed coursework in the Energy & Environmental Policy and International Development & Humanitarian Assistance concentrations. I understood that the issues I wanted to address are complex and require a cross-disciplinary approach.

Traveling has never been about collecting passport stamps or escaping daily life. While it has certainly been a pleasure and a privilege, it has also been a profound way to connect—with people and places shaped by diverse experiences and perspectives, and with the environments that sustain us. From forests to deserts, oceans to coastlines, and mountains to plains, I’ve come to deeply value the reciprocal relationship we share with the natural world and with both human and non-human life. These experiences have only reinforced my belief that human, non-human, and environmental systems are fundamentally and inseparably interconnected—and therefore require multilateral support and collaboration.

Each international move I’ve made has been intentional—equipping me with transferable skills, expanding my self-awareness, and offering unforgettable experiences that have required adaptability, reflection, open-mindedness, and contextual understanding. More than anything, these journeys have shaped how I see and relate to the world, reinforcing my commitment to building a more sustainable and compassionate way of living—one that recognizes our shared interdependence across species and ecosystems.

My curated visual log offers a glimpse into the experiences I’ve had the honor of being part of.