Nguyen Ngoc Thao was born in 1997 in Hanoi, Vietnam. When she was a student at Foreign Language specialized School, she actively engaged in various class and school activities. She was the class representative for the whole 3 years while being a committed member of Team CNN Leader, a club in charge of organizing the school’s events.

She moved to Kyoto, Japan in 2015 to pursue an undergraduate degree at Doshisha University, one of the top private universities in the country, and is now a junior. Having been always intrigued, and sometimes frustrated, by international affairs, she chose to major in Political Science, focusing on international relations, human rights, sustainable development, and on a side note, political psychology. She has always been keen on analyzing global and political puzzles, thus her excellent academic performance. As a result, she has been on the Dean’s List twice and is currently receiving 2 scholarships.

However, her life is not all about studying. She has also been an enthusiastic member of the Vietnamese Youth and Students Association in Kyoto and is on her 2^nd term as the vice president. She sees this as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Vietnam and Japan. She has a busy year ahead of her with 4 conferences and cultural events to co-host and a graduate thesis to write, but she is determined to raise awareness about global issues. She firmly believes that although she cannot make a substantial change to the world, she can encourage people to take small steps, and together, their voices will be heard.