Meet our 2021 TOU interns! We are very pleased to welcome interns from around the world virtually this summer! During our first week, the TOU interns have been engaged in exploring the work of the Temple of Understanding and learning more about the United Nations as they begin to think about the topics they will be researching throughout the program. We are looking forward to participating in HLPF, hearing from speakers on numerous topics, experiencing religious site visits, and more over the next few weeks!
Johnasson Yu, China & USA
Hi, my name is Johnasson Yu and I’m an 18-year-old from Palos Verdes Estates, California. Although I’m from California, I consider my home to be in Shanghai, China because that’s where my family resides. I am currently a rising senior at Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts. For hobbies and sports, I am a photographer, a wrestler, and a volleyball player. Recently, I am conducting research on vaccine distribution and supply for a paper on vaccine diplomacy. Topics of vaccine diplomacy include analysis of broader topics such as vaccine nationalism, assertions of soft power, and health aid altruism, which I all find incredibly complex and fun to research. I am also starting research on the Greta Thunberg effect, which is analyzing the extent of youth activism’s effects on the government’s actions on climate change. I wish to collaborate with TOU to further aid these research topics, particularly exploration of WHO’s COVAX initiative and interactions between NGOs and Greta Thunberg.