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I’ve always been an ambitious kid with big dreams. Passionately Ambitious Hustler is the informal title I’d given myself, based on my initials. I find myself eternally curious... ideating meaningful solutions to solve problems and acting on them. I never limit myself by thinking that I’m just a student and this mindset is what brought me to the Office of University Initiatives (UI) at ASU as a Strategic Research Analyst.

As the conduit for university-wide initiatives at Arizona State University (ASU), the Office of University Initiatives (UI) is like an island of generalists in a deep sea of specialists. As an R1 university, ASU is a breeding ground for pundits, from professors like Dr. Sha Sin Wei, who studies ethico-aesthetic improvisation and topological approaches to morphogenesis and process philosophy, to researchers like Dr. Diego Mastroeni, who studies genetic and epigenetic changes within single classes of cells in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease using laser capture microdissection.

Often times, our office must communicate with internal and external stakeholders about the efforts ASU has taken to operationalize the charter and design aspirations. Such assignments to do so can be both rewarding and frustrating. With thousands of students, faculty staff and community partners across five campuses, there is no shortage of programs and initiatives that can be featured. One of best aspects of my role is learning about these efforts and how they have made a positive impact.

At Arizona State University, you will be hard-pressed to find a group or department discussing education without simultaneously discussing scale. If we are reaching one hundred learners with a product or course offering, can we reach 200? What about 500? At EdPlus, the division which houses Education for Humanity, scale is deeply embedded in our DNA.