Hello! My name is Jacqueline Wong and I am currently a third year undergraduate student at UBC pursing a BA degree in Human Geography. My initial plan was to graduate in 2018 with the rest of my class, but since first year many things have changed, including my choice of major and my acceptance into the Arts Co-op program. Needless to say, I have come to accept university “as a journey, not a race”.
Born and raised in Vancouver, I have always been exposed to and had an interest in international culture and diversity, but it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to go to Guatemala for the first time at the age of 14 that I began to understand what area of focus I wanted to pursue in life. Having returned there five times since 2011 to serve at the same girls’ refuge home for sexually abused girls, as well as completing two internships with their organization (Kids Alive International), I have experienced the joys of working towards something I have a genuine passion for, and it has shaped who I am and what I care about in an incomparable way. I’ve even built up my Spanish vocabulary at home and at UBC in my determination to invest in my time in Guatemala, to a point where it has surpassed my supposed mother tongue of Cantonese (although my parents have acknowledged that that was always a lost cause).
One of the reasons why I chose Human Geography as a major was due to this growth of interest in international development, and desire to understand the current world in a contextual way. One of my ultimate career goals is to become involved in an NGO like Kids Alive International or International Justice Mission full time, and I feel that this area of study can only enrich my awareness and relativity to the field I am interested in. I am especially interested in learning about international development, analyzing patterns within local, global and other scales. With writing and goal-oriented investigation having always been my strengths, I have found new purpose in applying my skills towards a specific field of study, which will hopefully transfer over to career opportunities within the same nature. This portfolio is a sample of my studies here at UBC, as I attempt to investigate the world as it was, as it is, and as it may be in the future.