Anita Catalina Aravena ’24 Awarded East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship

Anita Catalina Aravena ’24 is the second NYU Shanghai alum to be awarded an East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship. Aravena will pursue a two-year master's degree in Asian International Affairs at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) while participating in educational, cultural, residential community building, and leadership development programs at the East-West Center.

Sponsored by UHM, the graduate degree fellowship allows future leaders of the Asia-Pacific community to come together as they prepare to embark on leadership roles connecting this region to the rest of the world. 

_{Aravena during her Study Away at NYUAD}

Aravena said she applied for the fellowship after learning about it through a session organized on campus by EWC alum Ying Chen of the Office of Global Awards.. “I was extremely drawn into the leadership and community aspect of the fellowship and how I would be able to live and learn about a whole new place in the world,” she said.

“I am looking forward to working alongside the diverse cohort, the faculty and staff involved in the program, as well as networking with the East-West Center’s wide range of visitors and guest speakers,” she said.

While a student at NYU Shanghai, Aravena’s commitment to making connections across continents didn’t go unnoticed by her professors, including Rodrigo Zeidan, Professor of Practice in Business and Finance. ““Anita combined a drive for excellence in her studies with a desire to improve the world,” he said. “She was willing to deviate from the expected path of her major to find a place where she could contribute to society. Not everybody is brave or confident enough to do that, but more people should consider it.”

_{Aravema’s Study Away at Yonsei in South Korea}

Aravena said she is excited that this fellowship allows her to continue to learn about Asia, and more specifically China. The program allows for a flexible approach to research and study and Aravena said she hopes to focus her research in some way on Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

“Anita brings her curiosity, global-mindedness and cultural experiences – in the US, Chile, China, the UAE, South Korea and beyond – to the East-West Center, a perfect launchpad for impact in global affairs and East Asian studies in the years to come,” said Director of Global Awards Anna Kendrick. 

Recipients of the fellowship form deep connections with a network of individuals dedicated to positive change in the Asia Pacific region. Aravena said she’s hoping this fellowship will lead her to a PhD program down the road.