Mitchem Callahan is a third-year Promise Scholar student at UC Santa Barbara working towards a B.A. in Global Studies and a minor in Chinese. He is from central California and knows what it is like to live in a harsh environment, which is why he chose his major to make the biggest positive impact on the world that he can. He is the co-founder and former VP for the Afterthought Group on campus, providing students interested in global affairs with networking opportunities while spreading awareness about the subject to the public. He was once a radio DJ at KCSB with the Global Gaucho program that played world music he loved. He also is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Sigma Iota Rho Honors Society as a way to take advantage of more opportunities in his field of study. He is also a successful stock market investor and investment manager for his friends. He is now in the advanced Chinese language class series and will study abroad next year in Beijing with a Freeman Internship Scholarship. With his degree, he hopes to attain his master’s degree in International Relations at Georgetown University and become a US ambassador in East Asia so that he can help create more peace in the world.
Creative writing
My poem “Money All Around Me” is a reflection on greed at all levels and its effects. It represents my own personal experience with the power of money and my thoughts on it. It ends on a cliffhanger.
Year-long project
For my year-long project, I created a website that explains a complex, crucial topic: the Chinese political economy. The central point of confusion on this topic is the difficulty in reconciling a ruling communist party with a huge, relatively free-market economy. I want to clear up this confusion about China’s political economy since it is the second largest economy in the world with trade relations around the world that affect us everyday. I briefly define the Chinese political economy, explain modern Chinese history as it relates to their political economy, and describe the relationship between the Chinese state and economy.
