Busan Foreign School is proud to recognize Kristina Kuryndina as a recipient of the 2026 EARCOS Global Citizenship Award, an honor given to students who demonstrate leadership, service, collaboration, global awareness, and a deep commitment to making a positive difference.

Kristina earned this award through her sustained commitment to community service and animal welfare. Her work began when she was in fifth grade, volunteering alongside her father at Yangsan Sarang Shelter. What started as weekend visits to help walk dogs, assist with shelter needs, and support animals who had been abandoned gradually became something much more meaningful. Through this experience, Kristina came to see service not as a requirement, but as a responsibility.

As she moved into high school, Kristina expanded her commitment to service through leadership. When she inherited the school’s Volunteer Club, she worked to reshape it into the Service Club, shifting the focus from simply completing hours to building meaningful connections with the community. Under her leadership, students have been encouraged to take part in consistent service opportunities, including beach cleanups, school support, and outreach to people, animals, and communities in need.

Kristina’s current project, the Paws and Purpose Initiative, reflects the same spirit of sustained action. The initiative is designed to support local animal shelters through student volunteer visits, donation drives, and social media storytelling. By sharing photos, videos, and short profiles of shelter animals, Kristina hopes to raise awareness, increase adoption opportunities, and help the broader community understand the issue of animal homelessness.

“Kristina earned this award because she turned compassion into action — and then turned that action into a structure others could join,” said Glenn Saunders, University Counselor at Busan Foreign School.

Her project also reflects the qualities central to the 2026 EARCOS Global Citizenship Award. Kristina understands that animal homelessness is both a local and global issue. She demonstrates collaboration by organizing student teams for shelter support, content creation, donation coordination, and community outreach. She exhibits leadership by creating a structure that can continue beyond one event or one school year. Most importantly, she shows that meaningful change often begins with the willingness to keep showing up.

Kristina’s work reminds us that global citizenship is not defined only by where someone travels or what causes they talk about. It is shown through empathy, responsibility, action, and the courage to serve even when the outcome is uncertain.

Congratulations, Kristina. Your leadership and compassion represent the best of BFS.