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  5. Mary Khachatourian

Meet Mary Khachatourian

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am Lebanese-Armenian. I grew up in Lebanon then immigrated to the US. I have a B.A. in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Notre Dame University-Louaize (Lebanon). My professional experiences include being a political research intern at the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a research intern at the Wilson Center, and a data analyst for a small NGO. I am currently interning at Edelman Global Advisory as a research associate as well, mainly assisting with Middle Eastern clients and assisting with opportunities relates to business development and cultural heritage. I chose to attend graduate school because I had the desire to further grow my academic career and knew I would acquire skills and knowledge I may not have previously had.

What are you studying/researching?

My area of focus is international management and my region of focus is Korea. While I have not worked with any professor in particular, I am starting the school year as the President of Mannam, a graduate student organization focusing on Korean-related matters. Therefore, I have already started and will continue to work in cooperation with Professor Stephan Haggard, Director of the Korea-Pacific Program (KPP) at the School of Public Policy and Strategy (GPS), and Professor Munseob Lee, Associate Director of the KPP.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marykhachatourian/ 

Tell us about your campus involvement at UC San Diego

As previously mentioned, I am the President of Mannam after being a member in the club last year. I have been chosen as one of the Dean’s Fellows for the school year 2023-2024. I am also the events coordinator for the Lebanese Student Association (LSA) for the year. In the previous school year, I took some personal training classes and going to the gym was one of my favorite things (when it is not crowded and busy!). I love finding spots on campus where the beach is visible, and I also like trying out new food spots there I haven’t tried before or that have recently opened. I love that the campus has alot of green spaces where it’s nice to chill and take a break from everything. Similarly, San Diego has diverse cuisines, so I like trying new cuisines/spots, hanging out at the beach, and finding beautiful locations which is not so hard here. I would like to try out boxing classes at UCSD this year.

Why UC San Diego?

I chose UCSD because firstly, I wanted to stay in SoCal. After doing my research, I discovered that UCSD has one of the top international affairs programs, not only on the West Coast, but in the US overall. The San Diego weather and views are a huge plus.