Lifelong public policy nerd. Studied international affairs, changed focus due to rapid deterioration of domestic politics. Primary area of interest is electoral reform to rescue and rejuvenate American democracy.Before grad school I graduated cum laude from Dickinson College with a BA with honors in International Studies. I was one of only a few seniors to graduate with honors in my department, and one of several honored with an offer of admission to the Sigma Iota Rho international studies honor society. I was also honored to be named as one of Dickinson's two delegates to the 2017 Air Force Academy Assembly and 2018 Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference, and played leading roles in my work groups and both crisis simulations. I am very good with my field and keep up on international politics and security in my spare time. My formal concentration was in security studies, but I gained a strong personal interest in South Asia, which I have made into something of an informal concentration. While in India I spent a month in New Delhi studying Jammu & Kashmir, and my senior thesis and a good deal of my oral examination were on South Asia and US policy there. I also keep tabs on the politics of over a dozen countries and the naval and aerospace developments of about 11. I spent semesters abroad in India and France, and subsequently spent 5 weeks in 10 countries travelling over 8,600 miles by land on a self-planned, self-funded transcontinental rail adventure. I consider myself quite flexible, can learn new things and adapt to new environments quickly and easily, and am equally comfortable negotiating a rickshaw ride in New Delhi and navigating the Idaho backcountry. Otherwise I enjoy travel, backpacking, skiing, and pretty much anything involving mountains.