Tonatiuh Liévano Beltrán (’18) on the Value of Learning From a Diverse Cohort
Tonatiuh Liévano Beltrán (Class of 2018) on time spent with a cohort of global students:
I write today amazed at how much has happened since my arrival in Beijing over four months ago. It feels like a long and a short time; it feels long because of all of the things that I’ve already experienced before the halfway mark of the program; it feels short because it has only been a few months. I arrived in Beijing excited about the prospect of this year; for me, among many other things, it represented an opportunity to explore Public Policy, an interest that deviated from my undergraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering. I was also excited about the people I would meet, and the challenges that lay ahead.
Orientation provided a great introduction to my classmates; outings, teambuilding exercises, and spaces for reflection enabled the breaking down of barriers between us that fostered the integration of our class. I was immediately struck by my fellow scholars’ friendliness and willingness to engage, and as time has gone on, I become more and more grateful that I get to spend a few more months with them.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my classes and the lectures that I have had the pleasure to attend; indeed, a salient benefit of the program is our exposure to perspectives and points of view to wh