Community college students explore global careers at third annual Stanford fair

Saumitra Jha, associate professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, discussed business and global technology.

At the third annual Stanford Fair for Community College Students, students from more than 20 community colleges across California participated in a series of workshops led by Stanford scholars that explored global topics and international career paths.

“I registered for the fair because it has always been my goal to have a global impact with my career, yet I did not know much about what kinds of opportunities were out there,” said Zhulie Wahidi, a bioengineering major at Las Positas College. “I learned about what a global career could look like, what international law is and its impact across the world, how to design an outline for different career interests, and the opportunities and resources that are available to transfer students.”

The value of a global education

Stanford international relations alum Erika Nguyen, a workplace dignity program manager at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, kicked off the event with a keynote on the value of a global education. She shared how her background as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees informed her passion for human rights and helped her see the parallels between Vietnam and a different region of the world: the Middle East. However, it was her interdisciplinary major and study abroad experience that gave her the tools to understand a range of viewpoints, build strong relationships, and live her values.

After her talk, Nguyen answered questions about working in the human rights space and how to affect meaningful change. She noted, “We can get overwhelmed with ongoing challenges. These challenges are vast, but opportunities to make changes are endless.” In her parting words, she urged students to cast a wide net when applying for jobs. Even if experiences do not build on a linear path, they provide transferable skills for future opportunities, she emphasized.

Global careers, personal goals

Following this talk, students had the opportunity to join breakout sessions with four Stanford faculty members, Saumitra JhaRodolfo DirzoRose Gottemoeller, and Allen S. Weiner, who discussed international career paths and research across different fields.

In his session, Jha, associate professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, discussed business and global technology. He explored the changing nature of global politics in the 21st century and posed the question of whether we can build business models and approaches to help mitigate political risk and polarization. Using case studies from South Africa, Indonesia, and India, he showed how business is enhanced when it serves as a complement to existing industries and expertise in local communities.

Next, the students participated in an interactive workshop facilitated by instructors from the Stanford Life Design Lab. Students learned to apply design thinking to find opportunities for innovation in their personal and professional goals.

The event concluded with a panel discussion, featuring global studies and international relations students who transferred from community colleges to four-year institutions. The panelists discussed how their personal journeys helped shape their academic experiences. They provided practical advice for students looking to transfer to four-year institutions, encouraged students to explore and find what interests and motivates them, and emphasized that inspiration may come from unexpected places.

“What I learned from attending the fair was what passionate individuals look like, and how their interests drive them to excel when given the right combination of resources, skill, environment, possibilities, and opportunities. The faces of committed torchbearers come in many forms, shapes, and sizes,” noted Mysha Quader, a mechanical engineering major at Mission Community College. “Seeing so many individuals carve out their own pathways as tempered journeyers—pathways unique to them—was a rare treat.”

The Stanford Fair for Community College Students is one of several K-14 community outreach activities offered through Stanford’s Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) and is supported by U.S. Department of Education Title VI funding. Collaborators include the Stanford Global Studies Division (SGS), the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), the Stanford Graduate School of Education's Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET), and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA).