Student spotlight: Raveen Kumarasinghe

Raveen Kumarasinghe graduates this spring with a B.A. in international relations and a minor in modern languages. His interest in international relations stems from a lifelong passion for learning foreign languages, and as a Stanford student, he has traveled to every corner of the world to study, work, and immerse himself in different cultures.

“When I first came to Stanford, my main interest was learning different languages. I think IR was the best fit for what I wanted to learn because it allowed me to take classes in economics, political science, and language at the same time. It also had a lot of flexibility with study abroad.”

Already well-versed in Sinhala, English, French, Latin, and Chinese by the time he graduated high school, Raveen was determined to learn Russian, Arabic, Spanish, and Japanese as a Stanford student.

“Learning a new language is a very practical skill. You can use it to make friends, find employment, and when you travel,” he explained. “It is also very intellectually stimulating.”

Raveen recently received five proficiency notations in French, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese from Stanford’s Language Center. Proficiency notations are given to students who demonstrate levels of achievement equivalent to those expected at the end of the third year of study in a language. “They’re all incredibly different, incredibly difficult languages to learn. So being able to use all of them at a high level is pretty special,” he said.

As an undergraduate, Raveen took every opportunity to travel abroad. As a freshman, he won an Abbasi Program Student Grant, which he used to enroll in an intensive Arabic language program in Jordan. Another summer, he traveled to Russia and Estonia to take a three-week seminar on Russian imperial history, and he was inducted this year into the National Slavic Honors Society, Dobro Slovo,in recognition of his dedication to learning about the Russian language, history, and culture. During the spring of his junior year, he studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, where he lived with a host family and had the chance to visit several Latin American countries, including Argentina and Uruguay.   

One of his favorite experiences was studying in Japan for a semester. “Japan was amazing, in one word. We lived with a host family, and we were also in a Japanese university, so we were surrounded by Japanese students every day. The classes were very immersive … they took us to temples and local artisan shops in Kyoto,” he added. “Japan holds a pretty special place in my heart. You’re just surrounded by beauty everywhere you go.”

When he wasn’t studying abroad, Raveen participated in several internationally-focused organizations and clubs at Stanford. He was actively involved in the French film club, the American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue (AMENDS), and the Korean Student Association. “Our biggest event last year was bringing a North Korean defector to talk about his experience leaving North Korea and readjusting to life in South Korea,” he said.

Raveen also served as one of four undergraduate peer advisors for students majoring in international relations. “I loved being a peer advisor. I get to declare new IR undergrads and talk to them about the major, classes that they are thinking of taking, and how I would structure my IR degree if I had a chance to do it again.”

His best piece of advice to current students is to remain true to themselves. “Figure out what you want from your Stanford education, and then do that to the best of your ability. Prioritize what your main goal is and try working on that instead of trying to do what other people think is good for you. Because at the end of the day, you need to know what you want to do.”

This summer after graduation, he is looking forward to returning to Japan, where he will be working in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hiroshima, with plans to study international business law in the future. Congratulations Raveen, and best of luck!

Please join us in congratulating the class of 2019! As the academic year draws to a close, we are highlighting students graduating from across our 14 programs. Click here to view more student spotlights.