What was your concentration at Harvard?
Applied Mathematics
What will be your next step after graduation?
Technology and Security Policy Fellow and Adjunct, RAND Corporation
Where will you be located for your next steps after Harvard?
Washington, DC
What advice do you have for Harvard undergraduates, now that you’ve graduated?
If you know what you want to do — if there’s something that excites you, something you really care about — just start right now. I think there’s sometimes a perception that there are a hundred adjacent boxes you have to check (professionally, personally, academically) before you’ll be ready to “start your thing.” But if you wait until you feel like you’re ready — if you’re waiting for permission from the world to do something challenging — you might wait forever. Nobody is ever ready, so you should start in earnest. Run at it right now! Harvard is one of the most supportive and exciting places in the world to do that.
In my case, I originally thought I’d have to go to do a lot of prestigious policy internships, go to law school, publish groundbreaking research, etc. before I could have a career contributing to technology policy. I ended up as a Special Assistant at the White House during the Biden administration in my final year at Harvard by becoming obsessed with the national security portfolio I was working on and putting all my energy into getting started in policy directly, even though I was quite young to be doing it.
I’d also say that finding your community on campus is essential, even if it means bringing one together that doesn’t quite exist. I helped start the Harvard AI Safety Team (now the AI Safety Student Team) in my freshman year. That club ended up being a huge part of my college experience, with many of the folks there doing exciting research that far outstrips what I ever could have done. The Harvard student community is extraordinarily talented, and so much of what I learned there, I learned from my peers, working on things together and teaching each other. Pick your friends’ brains!
