For most people, the idea of uprooting their life to move to Turkey would be incredibly daunting. But not for 2024 Council Scholarship Recipient Miso Kwak. Miso moved to Izmir, Turkey for nine months on a Fulbright Scholarship to work as an English Teaching Assistant. While she knew little about Turkey at the time and dreaded leaving her friends in Boston, Miso says she doesn’t regret the opportunity for even a moment. “Being able to immerse myself in another culture and language was outstanding,” Miso says. “Of course there are challenges with that, but I enjoy those kinds of adventures, being put in a new and different environment.”
A confident and lifelong white cane user, Miso says that she made the most of her time in Turkey. In addition to teaching at the Izmir Institute of Technology, she also ran the school’s podcast club and joined a local tandem cycling group, where she made plenty of new friends. While living alone in a foreign country was hard, she says that the connections she made inspired her to continue her education and work to influence young people with disabilities around the world.
Even before her Turkey adventure, Miso was no stranger to travel. After growing up in South Korea, doing her undergraduate work on one U.S. coast at UCLA, and undertaking graduate school on the other coast at Harvard, Miso decided to continue her studies in yet another new environment by pursuing a Ph.D. in Special Education at UW-Madison. Miso is confident that her hard work will help her make the world a better place for the next generation of students with disabilities.
Part of Miso’s UW experience takes place in the campus’ Disability Cultural Center, where she works as an intern, giving presentations on disability justice and inclusion. The Center welcomes all students on campus, regardless of whether they identify as having a disability or not. This enables Miso to reach students from a wide range of backgrounds, and the work allows her to pursue what she is passionate about: public advocacy.
“The Center gives me a platform to engage and advocate at a broader level within the entire university, more than what I would be able to reach with my own personal advocacy,” Miso says. “Advocacy happens at so many different levels and can look like so many different things. For someone with a disability, advocacy isn’t necessarily a choice but a needed tool.”
So what advice does Miso have for new students with disabilities going to college for the first time? Don’t hold back! “It’s important that you go for something that feels reachable but hard to get,” she says. “Don’t be afraid of challenges and new opportunities. Go for what you want!”
The Council has been awarding scholarships to postsecondary students who are blind or low vision for decades. You can find more information about our scholarship program at WCBlind.org/Events/Scholarships.
