Welcome to “3 Questions with …”, a recurring feature on the Career Center blog. We’re asking alumni of all graduation years and career interests to share a bit of their experiences and advice.
Ran Guo, ’23, Junior Fellow at Asia Society
1. In just a few sentences, please tell us about your current job/graduate program/vocational endeavor.
Asia Society is a “think and do” tank—it does policy research and runs cultural and policy projects across Asia and America. I’m working on a project called Cure4Cancer, which aims to advance cross-border clinical trials and medical data sharing to find cancer cures. I help the team understand current health data sharing policies in China and the US and look for better ones. As a small team, we also meet with policy, health, and business professionals and advocate for policy change.
2. How did your time at Tufts influence your career journey?
It was formative! I arrived at Medford wanting to accomplish something big in life but had absolutely zero thinking about the “what” and “how”. I have much better understanding now thanks to the wonderful professors, advisors, and peers I met here.
On the foundational level, Tufts shaped my career thinking and ambition as a global citizen. I spent my entire sophomore year in Tufts’ partner university in China during the pandemic, junior year in Tufts’ exchange program in Oxford, and a week in my senior year in Doha, Qatar for a UN Conference on Least Developed Countries. At Tufts, I realized that I want to do the kind of policy that’s beneficial for not just my home country, but also for the world. As I graduated, Tufts also paved my way into the future. The Doha trip and career center’s support helped me launch my first post-graduate internship at the UN. The IGL’s Empower Fellowship also helped me start my own non-profit project.
I usually tell people that in Asia Society, I work in the intersection of policy, data governance, and healthcare. Policy basics and political thought are what Tuft taught me academically as a Polisci & IR major. Data governance is what Tufts gave me the opportunity to explore—I did my first related research project at the Belfer Center with the support of Tufts Cybersecurity and Policy Fellowship and Professor Susan Landau. Healthcare is what I’m up to learn more about in my work.
3. What advice would you offer to a student who wants to pursue a career path like yours?
I don’t think I’m an entrepreneurial person or a natural leader, but for career thinking, some entrepreneurial spirit would be useful, because there’s a whole world for us to explore. Be courageous and creative to explore new opportunities, but also make good plans and take the responsibility.
Do spend time on finding and exploring like-minded communities and peers. This is especially important if your intended career trajectory is not that clear, or if you’re aiming at an entry-level job that offers various future possibilities. The friends you meet along the way are not just sources of information. You can find infinite inspirations in the people you like and admire. For me, the people I care about is what really motivates me in my career.
For international students, many of you might be starting from scratch in the US, and there’re some clear disadvantages as a non-citizen here especially if you’re interested in policy. Do look for places where being international is an asset, but don’t settle for less. This would require a more careful planning, which is the cost of us deciding to be international. But when in difficulties, do look for and chat with people in a similar situation—there’re always friendly people out there to help you.
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