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Goylette Chami
“I plan to utilize my education to understand the lives of others that differ greatly from mine.”
- Program: 2008 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
- Hometown: Washington, IL
- Community College: (N/A)
- Four-year College or University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Graduate School: University of Cambridge
- Academic/Career Pursuits: Education / Academia, Environmental Scientist, Health Care, International Economic Development, Sciences, Social Science / Anthropology
- Other Interests: Leadership Development, Nonprofits, Volunteer Work
Biography
PROFILE: Goylette (Julie) Chami’s interest in development studies began with her own family’s experiences. Shortly after Julie’s birth, her mother was forced to flee their home in the People’s Republic of Hungary to settle in the US. Julie was brought up with “a keen personal understanding of how power can be abused, methods for local communities to respond to unjust authority, and which policy initiatives appeared to engender economic devastation.”
Intrigued by the differences of societal institutions, she began to conduct research in Hungary, Croatia, Syria, Kosovo and Uganda. As the founder of the Global Entrepreneurial Development Initiative, she brought 80 students together to help develop a micro-financing system in Osijek, Croatia, and in January 2008, effectively led 25 of those students and two professors on a study abroad program she established there. Julie also interned this spring at the law firm of Nizar Haroun in Lattakia, Syria. She is the first female, American, non-law school student to hold this position.
INSPIRATION: “My mother, ambitious and determined to escape the confines of authoritarianism in Syria and communism in Hungary, provided me with the will to succeed.”
ASPIRATION: Julie plans to pursue a career as a researcher with the United Nations and then become a professor. “Through teaching, I want to educate others about the pressing issues in emerging economies and guide those who are interested in the field towards the numerous possibilities for involvement.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Julie is researching and collaborating with individuals working in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania to understand problems affecting infrastructural development.
ACCOLADES: Julie is the recipient of the Illinois General Assembly Scholarship for Academic Achievement, the Ainsworth Memorial Scholarship, and the William L. Wilbur Scholarship.
INTERESTING FACT: Julie once walked on a Syrian castle wall overlooking a one-mile drop.
Other Scholars Like Goylette
Alexandra Zaleta
Graduate Scholar
Washington University in St. Louis
Dwayne Kelly
Graduate Scholar
City University of New York
Thomas Aguilar
Undergraduate Transfer Scholar
Bradley University
Steven Crist
Undergraduate Transfer Scholar
Emory University