OUR STORY
From Learning
to Action
UNLABELED began with a classroom encounter and grew through learning, connection, and a shared determination to act.
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HOW IT BEGAN
A classroom became
our starting point.
Our story did not begin with an organization, a campaign, or a carefully prepared plan.
It began by listening to the stories of people whose lives had been shaped by forced migration, conflict, and exclusion from education.
2024 · THE BEGINNING
From a Classroom
to Our First Action
We encountered difficult realities, listened to people’s stories, and took our first step toward collective action.
Where Our Story Began
Our journey began in a classroom while taking the course Forced Migration and Human Security.
Through the course, we encountered stories of people facing realities far more serious than we had previously understood. What we learned challenged us and changed the way we saw the world around us.
Our First Human Rights Campaign
Moved by those stories, we organized a Human Rights Day campaign on campus.
The campaign introduced the experiences of people affected by conflict and forced migration, as well as the NGOs and activists working alongside them.
2025 · LEARNING AND CONNECTION
Learning Beyond
the Classroom
We began meeting students, diplomats, practitioners, and international organizations working on the issues we had first encountered through our studies.
Unified Action for a Global Challenge
We attended Unified Action for a Global Challenge in Tokyo, Japan.
Together with students from Canada and Japan working to develop and implement complementary education pathways, we exchanged perspectives on human rights issues and learned from one another’s experiences.
The gathering also gave us an opportunity to consider what we could do as a student-led organization for the people whose stories we had first encountered in class.
Studying with Friends from ICU
Following the Tokyo forum, we continued our exchange with friends from International Christian University.
Over three study sessions, we explored historical and social issues and shared perspectives shaped by our different academic and social environments.
Dialogue with the Canadian Embassies
We met migration programme officers from the Embassies of Canada in Korea and Japan.
We discussed how universities could expand access to higher education for youth from conflict-affected regions and learned about the work being undertaken by the Government of Canada.
Continuing the relationships formed in Tokyo, we also discussed how a Korea–Japan–Canada student network could be sustained over the long term.
Sharing What We Had Learned
We delivered a special lecture for Life and Politics, a general education course offered by our department.
Through brief but focused storytelling, we shared what we had learned and introduced difficult realities to students beyond our immediate group.
Learning from Practitioners
We met a migration programme officer from the Embassy of Canada in Korea and staff members working on related issues at UNHCR Korea.
Through these conversations, we discussed what students could realistically contribute and learned from people working directly in the field.
2026 · A NEW FOUNDATION
UNLABELED
Takes Shape
What began as learning and informal action became an organized student community with a clearer direction.
The Establishment of UNLABELED
UNLABELED was formally established as an academic society affiliated with our department.
We began creating the administrative and practical foundations needed to pursue our goals and transform what we had learned into sustained action.
OUR STORY CONTINUES
We are still learning what meaningful student action can be. Every meeting, project, and new relationship becomes another part of the story we are building together.