Chenyu Wei
<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> مرحبا
<i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Boston University
<i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2023
<i>Destination city & country:</i> Amman, Jordan & Kibbutz Ketura, Israel
<i>Program provider:</i> CET Academic Programs & Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
<i>Major/minor:</i> History & MENA Studies / Arabic
<i>Demographics:</i> Asian/Asian American, Immigrant, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student, Transfer Student
<i>Future career aspirations:</i> As an officer candidate for the United States Air Force, I plan to further utilize my language skill in both Arabic and Mandarin Chinese in my career within the armed forces serving in intelligence or investigation-based field. I've also planned to further my regional and language studies within graduate-level institutions such as the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Services program while I'm serving in the Air Force. I will continue to commit to my language expert in possible transition into the Foreign Affairs Officer career field within the Air Force, which requires a high level of aptitude in a foreign language to further US national interest in my assigned focused region. Furthermore, if I voluntarily decide to not pursue a military career, I'm also interested in a transition into the many federal agencies that share a parallel mission to my military service experience and goal of national security as well as global cooperation and peace.
<i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1. Fully fluent in the Arabic language and Jordanian culture, able to communicate without any barriers when exchanging with native speakers.
2. Seek to further understand the complex nature of Middle Eastern geopolitics through internships, volunteering, and direct engagement with the local population.
3. Assisting, understanding, and engaging in meaningful solutions to the environmental inequalities in the Levant region through Arava Institute for Environmental Studies' Track II Forum for Environmental Studies and volunteering for Ruwwad Al-Tanmeya's mission to assist economically and opportunistically disenfranchised communities in Amman through building initiatives and facilitating redress of the key problems in those communities.
