Josh Ragbar was one of the 95 students who graduated last February at Yonsei GSIS.

By: Hansol Kang 

Senior Editor, Yonsei GSIS Newsletter 

Josh Ragbar, the valedictorian graduate of Yonsei GSIS, recently shared his story in an interview with Yonsei GSIS Newsletter. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Ragbar has lived in Singapore, the United States, and South Korea over the past decade. At Yonsei GSIS, he excelled academically, earning the title of valedictorian through hard work and dedication. He emphasized the importance of embracing diversity and engaging with different cultures at the university.

-Thanks for the interview. Can you tell us what brought you to South Korea and Yonsei GSIS?

-It is my pleasure! Before I came to Yonsei, I went to Yale-NUS College in Singapore, which led me to study at Yale University in the United States. Then, I moved back to Trinidad and Tobago and worked for the Ministry of Education, but I quickly became frustrated. I thought about many inspiring South Korean friends who treated me very well. I applied and received the Global Korea Scholarship and moved to South Korea. I chose Yonsei because of its international reputation. I met many Yonsei exchange students when I was at Yale and Yale-NUS.

-What message did you try to deliver in your valedictorian speech?

-I almost couldn’t give a speech because I couldn’t find the ceremony hall. I was 20 minutes late and only arrived when the Dean was speaking. But the main point in my speech was that it’s much better to enjoy the challenging things in life than to see them as pure work and torturous challenges. That way, you can course through life much easier than if you continuously keep grinding. I noticed many of my Korean and Singaporean friends who are very high-performing treat everything as a fight or competition. I would be miserable if I had that approach to my studies. I try to enjoy things and see how best I can do them until I can’t enjoy them anymore and fight through it.

-What advice would you give to incoming and current GSIS students?

-First, measuring success depends on what you aim to get out of this stage of life. Therefore, I’m unsure if I’m the best person to advise most people. But, generally, in learning, I’d like to advise students to try to enjoy what they do. I always tried to take classes based on the lecturer’s passion and how passionate the lecturer was about what they did. When a professor is passionate about the topic, that stands out as the most distinctive memory from GSIS for me. Additionally, adventure to other GSIS schools and take advantage of 15 exchange credits. I used all my 15 extra credits to study at other Yonsei Schools like the School of Neuroscience, School of Law, School of Medicine, Ewha GSIS, and Sogang GSIS.

-Was there any hardship during your time, and how did you overcome it?

-Living in South Korea poses pretty tricky challenges for most people coming here for the first time and even for people who have lived abroad quite often. It would help if you tried to understand how the Korean system is different and that the relationship between the lecturer and you may be different than expected. South Korea is still a pretty homogeneous society, and many people are not accustomed to people who look like me. I experienced rules where I would never expect there to be rules about what age is allowed into a building or what race is allowed into a business. But I would say you should probably not interpret these kinds of experiences through the lens of your own culture.

-What do you envision yourself doing in the future?

I plan to return to Trinidad and Tobago first to spend time with my family, whom I haven’t seen in a long time. When I graduated from university for the first time, I was very optimistic about my ability to influence the world. But, you soon realize there’s much more to be done in the real world in the real world, there’s much more to be done and fewer people willing to listen to you. This was part of the reason I came to Yonsei in the first place after Yale. I’m not entirely sure what career I want to go into. I want a career that allows me to solve real-world problems, and that’s always been my aim. I’m thinking about setting up my own business to start from the Caribbean region but, in the future, expand globally with the help of my friends.

-Any last words to the readers?

I was shocked to be selected valedictorian because I certainly wasn’t always the best student in every class I took. I’m just very grateful to have been chosen valedictorian and want to acknowledge that many people deserve it as much as I do.