I used to have a somewhat romantic idea of policymaking, believing top-down policy would create the most dramatic changes. I’ve always felt that making effective rules depends on a shared understanding of the subject being regulated. My first lesson as to how policymaking really works was through my high school AP Gov. class. We worked on a bill that aimed to create transparency in Civil Rights-era ‘cold cases’ — where the families of victims of racial hate crimes never found out what happened to their loved ones. This ‘class project’ passed both chambers of Congress, and was signed into law by President Trump right before the bill was set to expire with that session of Congress. I’ll never forget seeing then-Senator Doug Jones introduce the bill on the Senate floor, but I will also never forget the hundreds of emails and calls it took to get there. That day, I learned something incredibly valuable, which was that the legislative process is obscure but not unworkable, and that leaves areas for influence. A major part of my decision to concentrate in SPIA was the emphasis on analytical frameworks to approach entrenched societal themes and issues. Last year, I took two classes that particularly opened my eyes to what I wanted to study — Chinese Foreign Relations and Asian Capital Markets. Now, most of my @Princeton degree is oriented around understanding China and its trajectory. I’ve taken 4 semesters of Mandarin so far, which came in handy when I went to China to teach English to college students through @princetoninasia, and when I was working on the policy team for @corybooker’s presidential campaign. I’ve realized Americans don’t truly understand how other countries operate, so a lot of our policymaking is rendered ineffective. If I can eventually contribute to a shared understanding of internal and stakeholder politics between China and the U.S., then policymakers will have a stronger chance at finding shared success in cooperation. My drive to learn is an effort to learn how the world works, so I can help fit together the puzzle pieces.”