Kyle Schmidt is a fourth–year Political Science major and Entrepreneurship Minor. Kyle is completing a departmental Honors Thesis in Political Science on the evolving relationship between China and the Continent of Africa. His research specifically investigates the expanding hegemonic power of South Africa and China’s role in the continents changing political and economic order as well as the global implications of a Chinese-balanced power shift. He is mesmerized by the events unfolding on the international arena and hopes his research will provide awareness and insights into conversations surrounding the politics of Africa, rare earth metals, global power dynamics, and hegemonic theory. After graduation, Kyle plans to take a gap year to travel the world and broaden his cultural understandings before attending law school.