The International Affairs Dual Major program is what brought me to UNH. I could have studied political science anywhere, but I knew I wanted to combine that with a focus on international affairs.
The UNH program and study abroad experience gave me an edge in landing an international internship in Washington, DC after graduation. I interned for the European Union’s delegation and then went to work for The European Institute, a non-profit transatlantic trade relations group in Washington. During my five years there, I was able to interface comfortably with high-level European and US business executives and government officials, because of the confidence in the subject matter that my IA education at UNH provided.
The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies seemed like a natural fit for me when I was considering graduate school. There I earned a masters degree in international relations with a concentration in economics and energy policy. Following graduate school, I went to work for the Alliance to Save Energy, where my international focus shifted from Europe to Asia. During my years at the Alliance, I had the opportunity to work on an energy efficiency project that took me to China twice a year.
Today I work for the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, a trade association that promotes energy efficiency worldwide as a means to preserve the environment and stem climate change. The world is so small now that nearly every business or subject area has an international component to it. The stellar IA program at UNH gave me the strong foundation I needed to build a career in my chosen field, and I am confident that it will continue to carry me anywhere in the world that this career path might lead.
