Student Profile: Eduardo Ramirez ’12

Eduardo Ramirez has always been passionate about understanding the world. Even as a young boy living in the Coyoacan district of Mexico City, Eduardo’s interest in politics and world news was evident.

“When I was growing up, the first thing I’d do when I woke up was turn on the TV and read the newspaper.”

Considering this childhood passion for international relations, it should come as no surprise that Eduardo ended up far from home, studying abroad at Hope College.

“Studying abroad is a big opportunity. To go back to Mexico with a degree from a United States college really improves your chances of being successful and having a lot of opportunities. It shows that you’ve overcome obstacles in a different culture, and it shows that you’ve adapted and been competitive.”

Eduardo credits the Phelps Scholars Program, headed by program director and Hope professor Chuck Green, for helping
him transition to life in a new country.

“When you come to a new place, you want to find someone who knows what you feel like. The Phelps Scholars Program connected me with other people who are interested in international relations.” The other important piece in Eduardo’s transition was the international education office.

“With the international office, you just don’t feel alone. They’ll help you with anything—banks, health care, visas. They make you feel extra protected.” The international education office will be especially important as Eduardo plans to spend the fall of 2010 in Brussels, Belgium, studying diplomacy and improving his French. Then, in the spring of 2011, Eduardo will intern in Washington, D.C., where he will get the chance to see how federal government works.

Aside from the academics, Eduardo has also found Hope to be a lively community that has provided many opportunities for him to pursue interests outside of class. For example he has enjoyed joining other international students playing soccer on Thursday and Friday nights in the Dow Center. He has picked up tennis, too.

In the end, though, Eduardo looks forward to the day that he can return to Mexico and become involved in the Mexican government.

“I would like to go to graduate school or maybe diplomacy school back in Mexico,” Eduardo says of his post-Hope plans. “I want to help my country. I want to pursue a career in diplomacy with my ultimate goal to work as secretary of state in Mexico.”

If Eduardo’s time at Hope is any indicator of things to come, he is sure to be a worthy diplomat of Mexico and mediator among many cultures.

This profile was written by Charlie A. Walter, a Hope College senior from Grand Rapids, Mich., for the 2010-11 Hope College Catalog.

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