Ivy Tica ('26)

   Ivy Tica (she/her), is a junior in Saybrook College from Manila, Philippines studying Sociology and pursuing the EDST Intensive Certificate. Ivy has always had an interest in education policy and research, and taking EDST classes early in her time at Yale helped her engage with these disciplines and discover that majoring in sociology was a good fit! Ivy’s experiences in both the American public school system and the Philippine private school system over different periods of her K-12 education contributed to her interests in comparative international education and arts education access. Her favorite EDST class so far was EDST 245, Designing and Evaluating Educational Interventions in the Global South, taught by Professor Ryan Pakebusch. She appreciated Professor Pakebusch’s kindness, the baked goods he brought to class, and of course, learning about how to design and pitch educational interventions. In this class, Ivy proposed an online e-library aiming to increase “reading for pleasure” among high school students in the Philippines. This past summer, Ivy interned for PHINMA Education, the largest private tertiary college network in the Philippines that serves first-generation low-income college students. She was deeply moved by this wonderful experience with such passionate hardworking coworkers. Her experiences both in and outside of class contribute to her hopes to make a positive impact on student’s lives in the Philippines in the future.