Meet Harmony Plus’ new intern
Please welcome Brian Wan, a second year student at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. Brian received a Bachelor’s in International Business and is currently seeking a Master’s in International Affairs with a regional focus on China. He recently accepted an internship position in hopes of utilizing his international experience to inspire all students — particularly those interested in International Affairs and Political Science. Brian’s interest in International Business stems from his own personal experiences, both within and outside the classroom:
“My passion for International Business can be best defined by my favorite professor’s quote: ‘Every solution creates another problem’. Although this may seem pessimistic, I see it as a constant reminder that there will always be more to discover and more to improve upon. I feel that this is especially true in both international relations and business, where every major decision will have lasting impacts in the future.”
Outside academics, Brian’s travel experience helped influence his perspective of International Affairs. He recently interned with Asia-Pacific Exchange (APEX) in Singapore as a member of the Energy Business Division. Moreover, Brian’s childhood consisted of significant travel:
“Many of the summer breaks of my childhood were spent traveling around the world, thanks to the efforts of my parents to broaden my global perspective. This allowed me to foster a love for the exploration of new places, but even more so the exploration of interactions between different cultures. As a result, International Business was the perfect intersection of that interaction and the spirit of entrepreneurial problem-solving.”
Brian foresees a career in East Asia to accrue more abroad experience. In fact, Brian already speaks three languages: Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean. Once he masters all three languages, he plans to learn Spanish and Arabic. Needless to say, his travel experiences and commitment to learning new languages demonstrates a deep passion and respect of learning new cultures. This level of commitment is part of the reason of why he decided to join Harmony Plus:
“I was initially curious as to how Harmony Plus differed from other independent educational organizations. Eventually, that curiosity developed into genuine interest when I realized that many of the courses being offered went above and beyond, not only just teaching students, but also giving them an early start on developing a foundational professional network and a repertoire of valuable hard and soft professional skills. Having experienced the importance of these things myself, I felt that this was something that I strongly wanted to contribute to.”
While the coronavirus has made work challenging for many people, Brian saw these shutdowns as an opportunity to work on himself. He hopes to leave Harmony Plus having helped students become better individuals, while strengthening his own communication skills. Overall, Brian has already begun to leave a legacy with the company through edits for Harmony Plus’ website and curriculum planning for some of the more exclusive programs. We appreciate Brian and commend his work with international affairs.
We’re excited to see what unfolds for Brian during the duration of his internship!
