Asha Bimitriev Wiratnanto

For Asha Bimitriev Wiratnanto, who grew up in nine different countries, the diverse backgrounds and variety of cultures she found at AUP felt like home—not to mention that she had lived in Paris for three years during middle school and was already familiar with the language and culture. In addition to the draw of the multicultural environment in a cosmopolitan city, AUP offered majors in politics that were right up her alley and ultimately influenced her choice to attend the University

“I did a lot of research on majors. I wanted to study International and Comparative Politics, a very popular major at AUP with strong professors, so this was a great opportunity for me,” she explains. Currently in her second year at AUP, she appreciates how her major connects to other majors, that she has so much choice with respect to courses and that she can still change her major should she discover a new passion.

For now, she has declared her major in International and Comparative Politics along with a minor in Environmental Policy, a minor she discovered during her First Bridge classes, which helped her grasp the overlap between environmental politics and law. “I wanted to study something science-based,” she says, “but not purely science, so this was a good match for me.” After realizing that chemical engineering and other STEM-based studies were not the right path for her, she was able to find a good compromise in AUP’s majors and minors.

Thanks to the liberal arts education, Asha has honed her focus in the realm of politics, all the while broadening her knowledge of other disciplines tangent to her major through the transversal paths offered by AUP. Joining the “Human Rights and EU” track of her major, she says she has learned so much about the foundations of politics and is very proud of her most recent paper in that field. She has also attended two cultural programs trips, to Naples with her First Bridge class, and to Munich with her “Foundations of Modern Politics” course. She is looking forward to more travel and to more exciting courses such as “Global Political Economy” with Professor Peter Hägel.

Asha has also been very involved in extracurricular activities, having applied to be a student advisor for the spring semester of her first year and continuing on since, being a member of Student Government and of the Running Club.

Currently in the process of searching for an internship that might convert into a future job, she has her eye on the OECD and UNESCO but is also interested in working with environmental policy perhaps at an energy company. While she doesn’t yet know how things will shake out, and which will come first, a master’s degree or a job, she plans to stay in Europe, and looks forward to continuing to build connections through the AUP community, which she describes as “cozy and homey”.

The AUP experience is clearly personal for Asha, who says she appreciates the chance to get to know professors and to make genuine connections. “I went to a really big high school and I was skeptical of the small school ambiance, but small class sizes allow you to better connect with your peers and your professors. You have a chance to prove yourself,” she says, “and all of this contributes to a sense of belonging.”