Interview by Isabelle Zgorzelski

Youshay Rizvi has grown up seeing the world from multiple perspectives. Youshay is a proud first generation American whose parents immigrated from Pakistan to the United States in the 1990s. While growing up, Youshay also had the opportunity to travel and live around the world due to his parents’ work in the telecommunications industry, with stints in Canada, Pakistan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Youshay’s diverse childhood experiences helped him develop a keen interest in international affairs and love for cultures all over the world.    

As a student at Baylor University, Youshay majored in International Studies to build upon his international upbringing. Opportunities such as the Baylor in Washington, D.C. program and Model United Nations allowed him to gain real-world experience working with other globally minded people on international relations issues. Through the Baylor in Washington, D.C. Program, Rizvi interned at the U.S. Department of Justice in their Office of International Affairs. He worked on assignments in both English and Spanish languages to support attorneys within the Department. He gained experience working with other federal agencies and international counterparts. Through Model United Nations, he was able to work on his ability to inform and persuade other student delegations cultivating the interpersonal skills he would need for a career in international affairs. He was also able to strengthen his written communication skills which are crucial for success in international relations.  

Through these experiences at Baylor, Youshay realized how much he enjoyed learning and working with an international focus. After Baylor, Youshay went on to hone his international relations skillset by studying for a Master of Arts in American Foreign Policy & International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), located in Washington, D.C. Upon finishing his studies, he went on to join Bondi Partners, a strategic advisory firm working with defense and space clients across the U.S. and the Indo-Pacific region. He left Bondi Partners to join NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) where he serves as NASA’s lead for engagement with Latin American and Southeast Asian partners, facilitating international civil space cooperation. In these roles, Youshay has had the opportunity to build international partnerships across the academic, private, & public sectors and develop meaningful collaboration with those partners.  

In advice to current and prospective students, Youshay expressed how it is important to pursue a career in what you enjoy doing and not to be so anxious about where you will end up after graduation. If you enjoy what you are doing and are willing to work hard to succeed, the right opportunities will be there for you. He also advised that it is important to succeed in your academics, but the relationships you form with your peers and professors, not your grades, are what you will have with you for your entire career. Those people help you evaluate what you find enjoyable and guide you toward the opportunities you have worked so hard for. 

For more information about the Baylor in Washington, D.C. program or Baylor Model United Nations (MUN) and how you could pursue opportunities in foreign affairs, check out information the information linked above.