I had first applied to study abroad last year. But since then my international horizons became even further expanded. I'd already experienced living and working in France; I'd already traveled considerably around Europe on many occasions; I'd even been to Australia.
But then last summer happened. First I went to Cambodia, traveling from Phnom Penh, up the Tonle Sap river, past the bamboo houses along its banks where people live much like they have for hundreds and hundreds of years, to Siem Reap and its nearby majestic temples of Angkor. Then later in the summer I went to Israel, another place where I hadn't before been. There I toured places of ancient and modern historical import, gaining insight into the human dilemmas that ripple throughout the region. And as if all that wasn't enough, on the way home from Israel I stopped off in Europe and traveled by rail to the Balkans and Kosovo, another place where history was being developed right before my eyes.
I did not escape these experiences untouched. It is impossible for me to hear news from any of these places without being instantly transported back to these communities. I am much more aware of the history and tensions that percolate through the regions. I am much more aware of the humanity that occupies them, and the needs that these people often have unmet. These are worlds far beyond what is easily understood from within US borders, and they are worlds I want to continue to explore.
The effect of this resolution is the determination that my legal education should incorporate international law to the largest extent possible. Already at BU I've taken courses in international law process, and I'm currently taking EU law. This is also why I am interested in going abroad. There's something about BEING abroad that more directly informs one's learning than mere academic study can remotely. International legal institutions can be much better understood when one can see how they fit local societies in context. Furthermore, the opportunities to study international law through a semester abroad seem greater than they would be stateside.
In the long term I hope to combine this increasingly-expanding interest in international law with the already developed passion for intellectual property and the civil liberties it implicates. International law and IP dovetail, and there is a niche to be carved out in this space, I believe. At my internship last summer I worked with one such organization, an NGO that advocated for the needs of developing nations on the international stage with regard to affordable access to intellectual property. The organization had already lobbied for access to drug patents; my job was to make sure that the people of these nations could also have access to copyrighted materials so that they too could promote their Progress of Science. With the activities in WIPO, multilateral trade agreements, local national law, EU law, etc. I'm sure there will be plenty of areas to get involved with promoting the interests of people everywhere in having access to the intellectual property resources they need.
The above was written as part of my application for one of the BU study abroad programs. It worked: fall semester I will study in Germany. More details when it gets closer.