“Hi! I’m looking for … the meditation room?” I asked around Jenkins Nanovic Halls one fall morning in my earliest days of being a global affairs major. Why were we having class in a space for meditating? I wondered. I eventually found the Mediation Room, a circular room with long tables and microphones that looks like it could be U.N. headquarters, and prepared for Introduction to Global Affairs. The Mediation Room has been the setting for so much of my global affairs experience, from the introductory class to Global Politics and Policy. Most importantly, it has been a site for conversations about almost every global issue.
Over the past four years, I have had the opportunity to partake in classroom discussions and listen and learn from people who think similarly and radically differently than myself. I have only seen students be respectful and open-minded with each other, which is a feat in a world where partisanship has corroded so much dialogue. The global affairs major has taught me that no progress is made through anger or dismissing the opposition. Notre Dame has many accomplished policymakers in its vast alumni network, and I am encouraged when I look around the Mediation Room and see future policymakers around me.
In my first semester at Notre Dame, I took a Korean studies class with Professor Sharon Yoon. During the class we discussed the realities of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I knew the American-centric history of what happened; I knew how the atomic bomb was brought to life. However, learning about both the survivors' experiences and the events from a non-American perspective helped me to better understand how the United States is perceived in East Asia.
Majoring in global affairs has reshaped my understanding of global politics and history, allowing me to be a better global citizen. Secondly, global affairs courses have helped me develop a crucial skill: considering alternate perspectives while actively pushing away my own preconceived notions. How do you approach global development in sub-Saharan Africa when you grew up in the suburbs of Chicago? How do you address cultural practices outside of your own? The Keough School has not taught me all the answers. Or even most of the answers. To be honest, I have more questions. However, the questions I do have are more meaningful. I consider development and global crises less as problems I can solve single-handedly and more as puzzle pieces to consider and decode. As an undergraduate, I think the more questions you have, the better. And being a global affairs major has helped me to understand my own.squ
Thirdly, global affairs has pushed me out of my comfort zone on a truly global scale. After going back and forth on where to study abroad, I decided to head to Norwich, England for a semester. I wanted to participate in a small program at a local university, so I was enamored with the University of East Anglia. I broke even further out of my comfort zone by writing a proposal and receiving funding from the Keough School’s Nanovic Institute to spend three weeks in England doing research for my capstone project on maternal health and midwifery practices.
I landed in London, alone, and checked into my small hotel room and felt like I was on top of a ladder. I was all right as long as I didn’t consider how far away I was from the ground, or home, for too long. During those three weeks I immersed myself in libraries and archives in both London and Oxford, and began to hone my skill of relying on myself. While at the University of East Anglia, I developed that skill even more. I began to interact not just with people from England, but also with students from all over the world. I gradually became more comfortable and knowledgeable about having conversations with people from different cultures. Throughout this time, I lived according to the motto, “Do it alone and do it afraid.” The Keough School has pushed me to do hard things and not to wait until others want to do so. I encourage all students to channel this philosophy during their time here.
Notre Dame senior Alaina Reed will graduate in May with a degree in global affairs and a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Originally published by at keough.nd.edu on February 27, 2025.