Kaya Derin Ozkan

I'm a Junior at George Washington University. I am passionate about the complexities of international relations, political theory, and law. I am currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in International Affairs and hope to attend law school after finishing my undergraduate degree. I am experienced with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Documents. Furthermore, I speak Turkish and English fluently and speak an advanced level of Spanish. I was raised in Dubai surrounded by people of a myriad of cultures which has made me very open-minded and highly knowledgeable of foreign cultures and traditions. Furthermore, I have worked with Dentons LLC in their Dubai office where I gained much experience in a variety of fields including banking, commercial dispute resolutions (CDR), and many more. My entire life has been about prioritizing myself in order to help the others around me and that is a mentality I am willing to take into the workplace. 

I have worked in a variety of different fields and hope to contribute to my future employers through the lessons I've learned during them. For example, my first job was as a teacher of theater at Kids Theatre Works! Dubai, where I had a group of students aged 4-8 and it taught me many basic skills that I take with me everywhere. Primarily, communication skills, theater requires effective communication, verbal and non-verbal. Teaching kids how to express themselves clearly, articulate their thoughts, and convey emotions through dialogue, body language, and facial expressions. Within the fields of international affairs, journalism, and law, clear and effective communication is vital for negotiations, interviewing subjects, conducting investigations, writing reports, and even presenting arguments. Furthermore, having the opportunity to work in Dubai as a theater instructor and law intern, I gained a lot of experience in cross-cultural understanding. My environment often threw me into circles and groups of different cultures, beliefs and ideas, all of which I've learned to listen and learn from. Most importantly, this is an extremely valuable skill in fields revolving around international affairs, or even domestic politics in foreign countries where knowledge and understanding of different cultures and global issues are crucial.

Whilst I am a third year student in George Washington University with a strong educational background in fields regarding geography, international affairs, economics, international law, as well as a Cornell course I took titled “History and Politics of the Modern Middle East” it's worth mentioning that my education was not just limited to the classroom. Through my active participation in the Turkish Student Association (TSA) here in GW, we were able to raise funds and clothing donations for the devastating Kahramanmaras earthquake. Through this experience I learned the most effective ways to communicate with people and how to be concise while not skipping any important concepts. This was something I actively had to do when walking up to strangers and asking for donations, the experience taught me both how to work with and around people based on my situation.