Humans of Yonsei

Empowering the Youth of Zvishavane through ICT as a Yonsei Workstation Leader July 28, 2020

Underwood International College student Orein from Zimbabwe

Name: Orein Francis Jafter

College: Underwood International College (entering class of ‘18)

Major: Nano Science and Engineering (NSE), Integrated Science and Engineering Division (ISED)

“Growing up in the town of Zvishavane, I often locked myself away in my room and spent most of my time playing with electrical, battery-powered toys. My mother always found them broken into pieces, so she was enraged until she gave up. However, I actually took these actions on purpose—I reconstructed them out of the desire to understand the function of each part. And now, I grew up to pursue nanoscience engineering here at Yonsei and I have been leading an innovative Workstation (Yonsei student-led social innovation projects) team named G.O.E.L Computer Educational Initiative as its founder.

Computer literacy in today’s evolving technological world is a necessity. For this necessity to be fulfilled, it requires one to have access to basic computer facilities and educational platforms. However, individuals across my motherland, Zimbabwe, and the Zvishavane middle and lower classes, in particular, find themselves with little to no exposure to computer technology until their enrollment to university. What this means is that a lot of the youth fail to access academic resources, career development opportunities, or information on scholarships that could have enhanced their learning progress.

My Workstation team, G.O.E.L Computer Educational Initiative, seeks to rewrite the narrative on the life of most youth around the Zvishavane community by empowering them with an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skill set based on computer operations and packages, and technology-centered entrepreneurship. By 2029, G.O.E.L aims to elevate computer literacy among the youth of Zvishavane community and be the leading computer-based educational facility in the region.

Currently, my team composes of three different nationalities, and the team members’ drive and dedication to achieve our shared goal of escalating computer literacy are beyond imagination. Personally, the workstation opportunity offered me a platform where I didn’t need to separate my interest in sustainable innovation from my intellectual pursuit as an aspiring nanoscience engineer. The Workstation community creates an impact-driven culture of innovative learning that challenges like-minded students to get engaged beyond performance-oriented education. Thus, I realized that my non-academic passion for social innovation and research could be turned into an academic passion as well.

Throughout my academic and leadership journey at Yonsei, I have come to appreciate the integral potential of entrepreneurial thinking and engineering in cultivating a solution-oriented mindset to the betterment of today’s innovative society. Ultimately, I hope to continue my studies in Nanoscience Innovation while also inclining myself to appreciate Sustainable Development. And one day, I would eventually return and contribute to the development of the African continent with all that I have learned.”

Interview by student reporter Chaewan Lee

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Underwood International College (UIC) is a highly selective, four-year liberal arts college within Yonsei University, combining the intimate learning environment of an American-style liberal arts college with the faculty and resources of Korea’s leading private research university. With all instruction taught in English, UIC is the flagship international undergraduate degree program at Yonsei University.

UIC students choose from 16 majors under three divisions: 1) Underwood Division (Comparative Literature and Culture, Economics, International Studies, Political Science and International Relations, Life Science and Biotechnology), 2) Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Division (Asian Studies, Culture and Design Management, Information and Interaction Design, Creative Technology Management, Justice and Civil Leadership, Quantitative Risk Management, Science, Technology and Policy, Sustainable Development and Cooperation) and 3) Integrated Science and Engineering Division (Nano Science and Engineering, Energy and Environmental Science and Engineering, Bio-Convergence).

Online application for Spring 2021 is open during July 1 - August 27, 2020. Click here for more information.

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