Hi my name is Seungpyo Lee but you can call me Eric. I was born in Korea but my family and I came here in 1999 and lived here ever since until 2006-2008 when we went back to Korea for a while but came back for school after.  I am 21 years old and am currently in my 2nd year of the IDS specialist program after switching from the management program. When i was in the management program, I thought it would be fun to learn about business but I then realized that everything i would be learning from University would be some sort of a foundation-like learning because I would have to learn everything all over again once I go into a company. Therefore, I decided to learn and study something I was really interested in and that I enjoy.

But I wasn't interested in this program from the start...two years ago, I took a year off from school and went backpacking around the world for 10 months. It was then when my eyes were opened to what reality was and how the world really looked. It wasn't all pink and pretty colours even with commercials and news showing us about some of the poorest countries and how their citizens live. What was different and touching for me was actually staying for months at times in some of the poorest countries and actually interacting and enjoying their lifestyles. Yes, they have no money, but what they showed me was kindness and love, sometimes in the purest forms, that made me rethink about how I should live my life. From then, I knew that this program was the one for me! :)

Honestly when I first enrolled in this course, it was only because it was a required course because I figured that most of the poor countries do not even have the means to approach the net or any form of modern technology. So i thought, "what's the point?" But as class started, a new thought came to mind, "if the people with access to modern technology gain more knowledge then maybe a solution can be found." I thought that there was still a way to help people even slightly through the use of technology even when they don't. Therefore, I really look forward to this class and I think it would be a very enjoyable semester!!