Sophia Rosales – NexGen Global Forum

Sophia Rosales graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2017 with a Bachelors in History and two minors in Asian Studies and Anthropology-Geography. During her undergraduate studies, Sophia was involved in her university’s Model United Nations team and assistant editor for the History Department’s journal, The Forum. In addition, she was president of her university’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, a history honor society. As a research assistant, she used ArcGIS to map sex trafficking and clandestine prostitution in colonial Vietnam. For her senior thesis, Sophia analyzed territorial claims in the South China Sea.
 
After graduating from Cal Poly, Sophia received the HuaYu Enrichment scholarship to continue her studies of Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan at National Taiwan Normal University. For the 2018-2019 academic year, she received a Fulbright ETA award in Lao Cai, Vietnam. As a cultural ambassador for the Fulbright Program, she taught English at Lao Cai College.
 
For the 2019-2020 academic year, Sophia received a Boren Fellowship to study Mandarin Chinese at Tsinghua University. During her graduate studies, Sophia will focus her master thesis on U.S.-Sino relations in a greater Southeast Asian context. Upon returning to the U.S., Sophia will continue her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS with a concentration in Southeast Asian Studies and continue her language studies in Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese. Her career interests include working for U.S. government, as part of her NSEP requirement through the Boren Fellowship.