By Wei Wang, MSFS’14
MSFS students are actively reaching out to students in other programs across the university to build and benefit from a larger and more diverse academic and social community.
On Nov. 15, students from six different schools and programs who concentrate on international development came together in the happy hour event “Drinks for Development” for the first time.
For MSFS international development concentrators, it was certainly a pleasant surprise to find that there are so many students from other programs and groups who share their passion and devotion to international development causes. By networking and exchanging ideas with other students, MSFS students obtained more information about international development-related courses, activities, career opportunities and other resources available university-wide, which will enable them to build their academic and professional foundation on a multifaceted platform.
Alex Blake, a student from the Global Human Development program in the School of Foreign Service who organized the event, said that he realized through conversations with students and faculty that there are at least six student groups focused on international development, including the MSFS International Development concentration, Global Human Development and Social Enterprise in the business school. Also, there are students focused on international development in programs such as Latin American Studies.
According to Blake, the main reason for bringing these students together is to build on the opportunities they already have. “We have a number of groups that share passion, intelligence, creativity and drive, so we should be united,” he said. “We should come together and draw from our combined resources.”
The collaboration between different Georgetown programs is common, and students benefit from increased access to resources and a more extensive network. Earlier this week, MSFS brought together students from School of Foreign Service and the McDonough School of Business in a Net Impact “speed dating” event, where they had the unique opportunity to meet with professionals from organizations in the non-profit and private sectors. MSFS students often benefit from being a part of the larger Georgetown community, which allows them to take advantage of diverse programming offered across the campus.