Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your background?

Aloha my name is Jakob Thelle. I’m 23 years old from Norway and I just graduated with a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning this summer of 2023. I moved to Hawaii in 2018 and I really wanted to combine a high level education with volleyball which I played since I was 10 years old and I always wanted to play professionally in Europe so I thought that college was a great middle step just having the educational part in my back pocket going into the professional World and learning everything I can from the experience. So I was offered an athletic scholarship to come to Hawaii and for me that was no great enough because the place was just unbelievable and all the mountains and just being able to be in the ocean and spend time at the beach but also just the whole part of the culture which I knew was unique to Hawaii and that the people just had their hands open for me. So the 5 years in Hawaii has definitely changed my life. At Athletics playing for the men’s volleball team. We won two national championships in 21 and 22 which was the first ones ever done at the school which is pretty pretty high accomplishment for us and just my time in Hawaii has really just been eye opening to me and it changed my life

What drew you to the Global Environmental Science (GES) & Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) combined Bachelor’s and Master’s degree?

The first time I heard about the 4+1 program or the BAM program was during COVID actually when I went home to Norway after our season got cut short and I had to go back because all the restrictions. But I heard about the program taking the class in the planning, PLAN 310, with Dr. Dan Mills who also ended up being my advisor for my caps project which I did on integrated Water Management. I spoke to my advisor for the GES program and he got me in touch with Priyam who was really helpful and I was able to combine my my GES with the Masters in Urban and Regional Planning. And it was one of the best decision that I made in my life.

Why did you choose environmental planning in particular?

In environmental science, we learned a lot about the science behind climate change and really looked at different studies we just learn a lot about what it means for the environment and how it has such an alarming impact on communities around the world so I was curious to really just bridge those gaps between the climate change science with planning because I think there’s a lot of important information that is being left out in the science into planning and policy and making communities more resilient and adaptable to climate change. So that was really just where I saw my role into planning was really just working on those those two different bridges and really bridging those gaps and in the knowledge and theory.

What is your most memorable experience in this program?

There’s a lot of memorable experiences that I’ve had in the program but if I to select a couple um I’d say that the planning practicum was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had. It’s a really demanding class that’s one thing but also just how you’re involved in a real case project with the community and how you’re working really making or have an impact on that community is something that’s really valuable to see. So just all the theory knowledge you learn in the program, applying those skills into like a real case scenario that’s seem been one of the most giving and the most valuable experience that I’ve had going into planning.

What advice would you give to prospective students about this program?

The BAM program is a really unique opportunity to really combine one’s field study with planning specifically because you know a lot about one piece of information and field but really just combining two into a more holistic understanding of your field and it really has value. There’s a lot of different subfields within planning that you can really pursue but I think that they all have interconnectedness that you can learn from every single field. If you have to play volleyball and want to stay for fifth year to be able to be in the BAM program you can just come from a different department and really just look into that opportunity because really it’s given me a lot and I think it will help a lot of students too in the future to find out what their paths in their career and their life will be.

What are your next steps?

The next step for me is to continue to follow my dream. I signed a two-year contract with one of the best teams in the world in Italy where I’ll be playing with some of the best players in the world and guys that have had multiple Olympics in their in their pockets. But I want to keep playing for a couple more years and then hopefully I can come back to Hawaii and work in planning and also just give back to the community because Hawaii has given me so much that I just want to get back and I think that planning provides a lot of opportunities here on the islands and that’s something I want to do. Come back and then ultimately open a poke shop and sell poke.

Anything else you’d like to share?

The MURP program is such a unique opportunity at UH because it offers so many different different things and just having unique great faculty. You have a lot of students that you can learn from. A lot of real life professional work that you can do here at the program as well is just having all those experiences being in the classroom and out of the classroom and really see what planning is about and the different sections or the different parts about planning such as transportation planning, you have public health, you have environmental planning. There’s so many different fields of planning that you can really go towards but it’s about really taking everything in you learn from others the best way you can and you just really have the best time of your life in the program because really MURP is an Ohana where everyone cares about each other. So, just really embracing that part of it and doing the best you can. It’s going to be a good time and I highly recommend it so just enjoy. Aloha!