Hi everyone. My name is Aaron Moon and I am a freshman in the College of Business Administration. I am intending to double major in Accounting and Business Information System while also pursuing the minor in Economics. With this degree, I plan on becoming a CPA and possibly travel around the world as I work with international clients. Beside academics, I have played soccer for my whole life, and I like to spend my free time watching sports and playing video games. I originally came from Seoul, South Korea and moved to Pittsburgh with my family in 7th grade. I always liked travelling, and I have been to various countries including Japan, Italy, France, and England. I’m excited to visit another country in Asia that I have never been to and learn about the new culture.
I chose Vietnam as my first study abroad location for both personal and academic reasons. First, Vietnam shares a part of the modern history with Korea: The Cold War era. Korea faced the Korean War and split into two countries in early 1950s, meanwhile Vietnam went through the national division and the Vietnam War for about 20 years until the reunification in 1975. Since I share these unique cultural aspects with Vietnamese students there, I expect to have many conversations with them regarding that topic. Also, after the war, South Korea applied effective reconstruction programs that abled the country to successfully transform into a developed country from a developing country. Similarly, Vietnam is facing rapid development within the country after reconstruction, becoming the fastest-growing of the world’s economies in 2017. With this personal and academic connection, I hope to find out more about similarities and differences between two countries as I visit historic sites and growing companies at Vietnam.
Since I wish to travel around the globe for the future career, I believe that this abroad experience will be a great opportunity to take a glance at the professional and international business world. As I gain a lot of valuable knowledges and experiences through this trip, I will be able to become globally competent and get closer to my future goals.