Mia Allen’s path to an international policy forum in Taiwan began in East Lansing, where she spent time researching U.S.-China relations, studying Chinese and participating in JMC's Human Rights Data Science Lab.
That work led to Allen’s selection as one of five students representing the United States at the 2026 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Youth Engagement Workshop. Held in July in Taiwan, the two-day event brought together 30 young people from around the world to collaborate on some of the challenges facing the global economy.
For Allen, the invitation was both unexpected and a natural extension of the work she had pursued at JMC.
The opportunity came through Prof. Robert Brathwaite, who had worked with Allen both as a student leader in the JMC Human Rights Data Science Lab and as a research assistant studying strategic competition between the United States and China. When the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago contacted him about the workshop, Allen came to mind.
“Mia is the type of student whose intelligence, hard work and collegiality make her exemplary,” Brathwaite said. “She also reminds me how fortunate I am as a professor to have the opportunity to work with such incredible students.”
She submitted her resume, and a few months later, an acceptance email arrived. She had only a couple of weeks to prepare for her first solo international trip.
Allen came to JMC through a familiar route: word of mouth. A friend who attended the college told her about the International Relations program, and Allen’s longtime interest in history began pointing toward something broader.
“Learning about current events on a global scale and seeing how you can contribute to that, even from somewhere in Michigan, was really interesting and fascinating to me,” she said.
Her Chinese minor came about the same way many of her decisions did: by taking a chance on something new. She had studied Spanish through high school, but knew college was likely her only opportunity to learn Chinese. She added a political economy minor as well.
“I enjoyed the language. I enjoy meeting people who speak it,” she said. “And it’s really taken me to a lot of different opportunities as well.”
Allen made a point of trying as much as she could as an undergraduate student. She joined JMC’s Human Rights Lab her sophomore year and stayed for two years before becoming a lab leader her senior year. Her group tracked human rights abuses in Sudan using open-source data, compiling findings for international agencies. The group presented its work to two audiences at the International Criminal Court, including the court’s Sudan research team.
Separately, she worked as a research assistant for Brathwaite on U.S.-China strategic competition, extracting data on topics including economic indicators and arms transfers, and categorizing press releases from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The July 2026 workshop, held at National Taipei University of Technology, opened with presentations from APEC officials and university speakers on how APEC operates, how proposals are introduced and how to communicate in a professional setting.
On the second day, participants took part in a mock APEC forum. Assigned in groups of four to member economies, they developed and presented proposals addressing real issues those economies face. Allen was placed with the New Zealand delegation.
“The biggest takeaway was just the importance of collaboration, especially when dealing with problems that the global economy is facing,” she said. “It also taught me a lot about how different fields of knowledge and backgrounds can come together to address one issue.”
After the mock forum, organizers took the group to a traditional Taiwanese dinner and the National Palace Museum. The dinner stands out as a favorite memory from her time abroad.
“It was a chance for us to talk not necessarily about economic issues and solutions, but just about our lives back home and comparing where we came from and how we view Taiwan,” she said. Taiwanese students at the table explained the dishes, the history and the culture as they ate.
Allen stayed nearly a week after the workshop ended, her first solo international trip. She explored night markets, tried foods across the city and hiked with fellow participants who had also extended their stays.
After graduating from MSU in May, Allen is applying for jobs and weighing whether graduate school is in her future. She expects to stay in the field of international relations, and the workshop reinforced that instinct.
Her advice for students considering similar opportunities is simple: “Keep an open mind to different experiences and just follow your passions where it takes you, because normally it will take you somewhere good if you enjoy it.”