Skip navigation

Student Stories

From Nonprofit to Sustainability Consulting: How SAIS Equipped Me to Serve Communities with a Systemic Understanding

Don’t be afraid to pivot. If you don’t like what you’re doing, try something different until you figure out what works.

At SAIS, Become Who You Aspire To Be

The community at SAIS convinced me that this is where I needed to be in order to become all I aspire to be.

No Other Program As Unique, Competitive

The SAIS and HNC program is really unique, allowing students to spend a year in Washington, D.C. and another in Nanjing; no other China studies program in the U.S. offered such a special competitive opportunity.

SAIS Has Opened My Eyes

After graduating from Howard University with a bachelor’s in International Affairs in Africa and the Caribbean, I was working at Iris House Inc., a non-profit in the Greater New York City area providing case management services to persons living with HIV/AIDs.

Using SAIS Education to Promote Financial Inclusion of Underserved Populations

SAIS is unique and flexible, allowing me to tailor studies to my specific interests and career goals, with a broad alumni network that is eager to help current students.

SAIS Challenges Your Assumptions About the World

Coming to SAIS will ‘pressure cook’ your assumptions about the world. You’ll learn whether your assumptions hold under scrutiny and you won’t always agree with classmates or professors but that’s the beauty of SAIS.

The SAIS Community Makes the Impossible, Possible

My mentor told me, “If you want to work in the White House Situation Room, go to SAIS.

SAIS Staff Rides: From Participant to Organizer

I became interested in SAIS through my undergraduate studies. I had a great opportunity to learn about the school through coursework with SAIS DC professors, interacting with impressive SAIS alumni, and attending one of the staff rides as an undergraduate participant. This helped me realize that I wanted to pursue a career in international relations and to continue my studies at SAIS.

Balancing an Internship with HNC Studies

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center helped me a lot with social networking, which is incredibly useful in my current position.

The World Can Be Better, But it Will Take Work

I chose SAIS because of the people, and not just the distinguished faculty and staff. Every SAIS student I had the privilege of meeting before I applied was incredibly kind, academically dynamic, and supportive. I instantly knew was the kind of program I wanted to be a part of.