iGEO Alumni - Chang-Chin WANG

Chang-Chin WANG.

Team: Taiwan

Participating Year(s): 2015

Current position/affiliation: Master’s student (Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo)

The Meaning of Geography to Me 

Rather than just an academic subject, geography is, for me, a way of understanding the world. I have always enjoyed learning new facts about the world, from the natural environment to human society. By focusing on the causes and effects in a spatial context, geography provides a framework to connect the individual dots and give meaning to seemingly random phenomena that we see, making the world much more interesting. For example, since I came to Tokyo six years ago, I have explored various parts of the metropolis, and urban geography theories and maps, both contemporary and old ones, have helped me understand the reasons behind what I see.

Impact of iGeo Preparation on my Life

iGeo was the high point of a series of geography contests I was involved in throughout high school. Preparation for and participation in these contests were probably the most significant part of my extracurricular activities at the time, and the experience played an important role in shaping who I am today. First, it helped me select my career path. Since geography is such a broad field, preparation for iGeo and other contests expanded my interests and made interdisciplinary knowledge my strong point. I also learned a lot about various environmental issues, a common focus of iGeo questions. These factors led to me choosing environmental science as my undergraduate major. In university, I continued to get exposed to different fields, eventually deciding to pursue planetary science in graduate school. Moreover, iGeo, and learning geography in general, greatly affected my world view. By knowing more about what is happening all around the world, I have been able to approach issues from a more international and well-informed perspective that is not limited by my own cultural background. Outside my academic life, my experience in geography contests gave me both more knowledge and perceptiveness about the surroundings, and I started doing photography to record my observations, a hobby that I still enjoy today.

5 June, 2022

Source: International Geography Olympiad.