Future Change Maker

Galen Shrand has always had sights on making a positive impact in the world. Here at RWU, he's being given the skills to do just that. A pivotal experience, so far, has been learning the Chinese language. "Three billion people speak the Chinese language," he says. "It opens so many doors to go around the world."

Shrand, who is also a political science major and an East Asian studies minor, hopes to one day help pass laws to help improve the environment, he says. Since China and the U.S. are major influencers in environmental issues, he believes his chosen majors and their courses will give him the knowledge to put him on potential career paths that will allow him to influence relations between the two nations. His dream post would be U.S. ambassador to China.

Recently, for his proficiency with the Chinese language, Shrand won a national Chinese language competition for university students new to studying Chinese. With the win, he was selected as one of six to join the all expenses paid Hainan Airlines Sponsored Confucius Institute Cultural Ambassador China Trip for 10 days in the summer. Shrand gives much of the credit for preparing him for the competition to RWU's Chinese language professors. He also cites his experience with Hawkward, the campus a capella group, for giving him the confidence and stage presence that helped him win.