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Crystle Siegel

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Finalist

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Martial Arts
  • Baking
  • Reading
  • Gaming
  • Board Games And Puzzles
  • Foreign Languages
  • Business And Entrepreneurship
  • Sustainability
  • Research
  • Sports
  • Gardening

Reading

  • Adventure
  • Biography
  • Historical
  • Horror
  • Academic
  • Realistic Fiction
  • Humor
  • Mystery
  • Novels
  • Politics
  • Short Stories
  • Travel
  • Thriller
  • Self-Help
  • Social Issues
  • Leadership

I read books daily.

Bio

I count myself as fortunate for realizing my passions as a teenager, thanks to the year I studied abroad in Bangkok. While I originally saw this as an opportunity to indulge my love of traveling, it quickly became much more than that. Through that experience, I discovered my passion for cross-cultural relations and became determined to integrate it into my professional endeavors. As I considered undergraduate majors, I came across the course 'Introduction to International Relations' and was immediately compelled to take it. After the first lecture, it was a done deal. I completed my BA in International Studies and was selected for the Rotary Ambassadorial Global Grant, with which I pursued my first MA in International Relations at Leiden University in the Netherlands. From there, I applied to Johns Hopkins University SAIS in Italy, where I finished my second MA in International Affairs. Following graduation, I found myself missing the intellectual discussions that characterize academia, and dissatisfied with the opportunities to discuss and advocate for the causes I am most passionate about. This led a friend and me to creating Balance of Power, or BoP. Through BoP, we aim to rethink existing spaces and shift the spotlight onto topics and people that are not given the space they deserve. Our goal is to grow enough that we can lend those without a voice our platform, to promote the interests and inclusion of those oft left behind. I view this project as the ultimate culmination and merging of my education and personal passions, and cannot wait to see where it takes me.

Education

Johns Hopkins University

Master's degree program

2020 – 2021

Majors:
  • International Relations and National Security Studies

College of Charleston

Bachelor's degree program

2016 – 2018

Majors:
  • International/Globalization Studies

Midlands Technical College

Associate's degree program

2014 – 2016

Majors:
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

Miscellaneous

Medical school interest:
No

Career

  • Waitress

    Food & Beverages · Famous Toastery

    Jan 2018 – Jan 2019

  • Communications Deputy

    Public Relations and Communications · International Studies Student Association

    Jan 2019 – Jan 2020

  • Public Relations Chair; Recruitment Assistant

    Public Relations and Communications · Sigma Delta Taur

    Jan 2017 – Jan 2018

  • Business Coordination Trainee

    Political Organization · European Food Safety Authority

    Jan 2022 – Jan 2023

  • Owner / Nanny

    Individual & Family Services · Siegel Care

    Jan 2014 – Jan 2019

  • Sales Specialist

    Retail · Victoria's Secret

    Jan 2014 – Jan 2018

  • Private Tutor

    Education · Ringle

    Jan 2021 – Present

  • Administrative Assistant

    Music · MP3 Productions, Inc.

    Jan 2020 – Jan 2021

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
International Affairs
Dream career goals:
Project Manager
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Politics
  • Volunteering
  • Entrepreneurship
Charles Cheesman's Student Debt Reduction Scholarship
The project mentioned in my profile, Balance of Power, is what I would describe as the ultimate culmination and convergence of my academic accomplishments, personal passions, and my experiences. Through this project, we aim to better promote the interests of women, people of color, and other communities who tend to be overlooked, especially in the international relations field. I found particular inspiration and desire to pursue Balance of Power due to a class I took during my first MA, which specifically examined international relations and its theories from the non-Western perspective. Despite taking multiple classes on the theory and history of international relations, it was the first time I learned about the racist nature of the field's roots and the atrocious beliefs of those considered the founders of international relations. I learned that IR is a field that does not have space for alternative ideas. One reason for this is that anarchy, the most basic and foundational concept of IR, was formed based on speculation on the structure of and relations between African tribes, without any direct observation. This, along with other foundational problems, resulted in a field that is closed off and does not allow for other perspectives that originate from outside the Western world. I was appalled when I discovered this, especially given that IR has been the focus of my entire academic career and likely will be the course of my professional one. Therefore, when the idea sparked to create this project, I was excited and ready to shape it as an opportunity to look at the world from alternative perspectives and push the importance of learning from and employing expertise from all sources. The wealth of knowledge we can learn from women and minority populations is largely untapped, due to the number of obstacles that prevent our knowledge from entering the mainstream. We are going to change that. While this project is still in its beginning stages, we have many topics planned for publication including the whitewashing of history; why women and minorities support political parties against their own interests; slurs, racism, and ESL; learning about race from media; addressing climate change based on the expertise of minority and indigenous communities; and more. This is a project that is very close to my heart. As someone who has lived internationally and had extensive interactions with people from all over the world, it has not been an easy journey to find my voice and identity as a mixed woman. It has been even more difficult to confront and fight racism from the many different angles I have experienced it, from places of malicious intent to places of pure ignorance and everything in between. Again and again, this journey has emphasized to me the importance of incorporating others' experiences into your understanding of the world, so that you can approach challenges from the right angle and make the difference you want to make. My dream is to develop Balance of Power to the point that we can become a trusted source of information that promotes alternative solutions to the mainstream. Furthermore, to the point that we can hire academics and even interns, allowing them to put their voices forward while also being fairly compensated for their work. This is a project that will take a lot of time and effort, but it is worth every bit of it. However, I do feel the weight of my student loans hanging over my decisions. This scholarship will not pay my loans off, but it will help ease the burden, allowing me to pursue this to its fullest potential.
Crystle Siegel Student Profile | Bold.org