Hey y'all! My name is Preston Payne Kennedy and I am from Birmingham, Alabama, USA. I have my Bachelor's of Arts in International Studies and minor degrees in Italian and History from the University of Mississippi. After studying in Urbino for a year I realized the importance of international cooperation and the economic efforts that can be utilized to improve the lives of others. I am very interested in pursuing a career in economic development and international cooperation and I chose to study at the MESCI program for this reason. I feel that being equipped with skills regarding data sciences and data interpretation in economic and development contexts are essential for the contextualization of global issues and their solutions.