Today’s post comes from fellow IEDPer HyunJae (Daniel) Won, which offers yet another perspective on CIES for all you lovely readers to enjoy. 

I really did not have many expectations for CIES except that every professor was recommending/pressuring us to attend the conference. On the other hand, I also heard from students that it might not be worth going, given the costs of attendance, time, and effort. However, post-CIES, I am glad that I decided to fly to Atlanta for it.

There were many good things at CIES, such as bonding with fellow cohort members, presenting a poster (which can boost up my resume), and networking. Nonetheless, one thing that made the difference, I think, was that I could hear working professionals talk and share about their own works and expertise. Before CIES , I had many interests and only vague ideas of what they would be like, but I gained insights on the kind of work the different specialties and professions entail, and ultimately have a better understanding of them now.

Therefore, after CIES, I can say that I have a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate and which direction to take. Moreover, I could add depth to my interests by listening to others. For example, instead of saying I am interested in curriculum, now I can explain what kind of curriculum, what I want to do with it, what goals I have, etc. I think this will be valuable for me in my future endeavors as well.

So for my concluding remarks I want to say, LET’S GO TO MEXICO CITY NEXT YEAR!