Salwa was born and raised in Middle Tennessee and also spent part of her childhood in Yemen. She graduated from Belmont University with a major in International Politics (BA, 2016) and minors in Chinese and Economics. As an undergraduate, she had the opportunity to study Chinese in both China and Taiwan with the Critical Language Scholarships. Upon graduating, she received a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in an elementary school in Taiwan. That experience sparked her interest in international education, where she spent the past two years prior to attending Georgetown supporting DC based international education organizations and their programs in China for American high school students. Salwa is particularly interested in U.S.-China and Cross-Strait relations At MSFS, she has interned with the U.S. Department of Commerce at the Office of China and Mongolia and the U.S. Department of State at the Office of Taiwan Coordination. She speaks Arabic and Chinese.

"I chose Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) for the opportunities to engage with top practioners in the field, proximity to the internships and resources DC has to offer, and close community."