Yomaira Lopez, M.A., Class of 2018

Yomaira joined the American Graduate School in Paris after what had already been a very international experience that had taken her from her native Dominican Republic to the US.

After doing the last part of her secondary education in the US she completed her Bachelor’s degree at the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where she double-majored in History and Spanish Literature with a Concentration on Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

On the very day of her graduation she decided to move to Texas, where she worked for two years as a high school instructor, teaching Spanish literature to native Spanish speakers in Texas. “I always knew that I wanted to do something related to International Relations and work with immigrants. I wanted to change lives. Teaching to immigrant populations was one way to do it, but I ended up finding myself limited in what I could do. I made sure to focus my classes on topics revolving around human rights, immigration, and politics, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to do something bigger.”

Yomaira first considered law school to become an immigration lawyer, but she ended up opting for diplomacy as a way to have a positive impact on people’s lives on an even larger scale. “I looked up ‘how to become a diplomat’ and found AGS. I sought advice from a career diplomat who said that Paris would be an ideal location for the study of Diplomacy. In addition I liked that AGS allowed me to combine diplomacy with the more theoretical foundations of international relations, at the same time as learning French and being in an international learning environment.” So she enrolled in the Master’s program in International Relations and Diplomacy in 2016 and moved to Paris.

“The program was very challenging. It was hard at the beginning as everything was new for me as to how the international arena works. One thing that helped me is that I was able to freely share my opinions during class discussions: that was a good way to connect things that I experienced with the bigger picture, and to build my knowledge from that. One of the biggest takeaways I got from the program is the understanding that no topic is too narrow or completely disconnected from International Relations.”

During the second year at AGS Yomaira interned at UNESCO, at the Permanent Delegation of the Dominican Republic. There she worked directly with the Cultural advisor to the Ambassador, completing research and writing reports on global issues such as girls’ education, inequality and poverty. She also worked closely with the Ministry of Culture in the Dominican Republic, and performed outreach to advertise the Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yomaira went on to do a second internship in another Paris-based international organization, this time at the OECD, where her tasks involve event planning and organization through a partner association. “I sent my CV through an AGS alumna and received an answer within a day. The main two recommendations that I would like to give are: don’t hesitate to use your school network, and work hard on optimizing your CV – it does make a difference.”

Yomaira used this position within OECD to explore ways and areas in which she could connect her field of interest, which is Latin American and Carribean studies, with the work of the organization. And this was a successful endeavor, as she is now working at the Secretary General’s Global Relations division for the Latin American and the Caribbean region. “My work mainly focuses on following up on the economic and political developments of Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic, supporting the team in its mission to maintain the bilateral relations between the organization and the region. The job is absolutely made for my skills. I’m definitely a people’s person and this is one of the few places at the OECD where you need to be connected to everybody.”