Olivia Cervantes Llamas is a first year graduate student in the Elliott School's M.A. in International Development Studies program. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2024 with a B.A. in International Development Studies and a minor in Anthropology. Earlier this year she was a Projects and Proposals intern at the International Development Group (IDG) and will complete her internship at the World Bank at the end of the semester. She also assists Dr. Samuel Ledermann at the Elliott School with his research on impact investing and agriculture. In her studies, she focuses on development finance, and hopes to work on financial inclusion efforts for women to expand their autonomy and resilience. Olivia enjoys doing ceramics, practicing her Spanish, and finding new restaurants in D.C..

What path led you to apply to graduate school? Why did you choose the Elliott School?

When I was beginning my senior year of undergraduate, I had no clue what I wanted to do when I graduated. I knew I wanted to do something international, and decided I wanted to learn how to apply the theories I learned about international development. At admitted student day the Elliott School stood out to me because the curriculum focused on the practical application of international development. It was exactly what I was looking for. The classes offered here are meant to build skills that you will need in a job in international affairs, and there are also a variety of courses at GW that you can take outside of your program. I feel like I am prepared to leverage my skills I gain in class. Coming to the Elliott School has given me so many opportunities that I did not have before moving to D.C..

What strategies have proved most helpful in making the most of your time at the Elliott School?

Utilizing the services available to me. I am a big advocate for meeting with the team at Career Services as much as you can. They see me there almost once a week. One of my motivations to attend graduate school was to get assistance in launching my career in international development. The advising team here at the Elliott School is one of a kind, and are invested in helping students.

I also recommend finding people to study with. School gets pretty hard to juggle with all of the other responsibilities that come with being a grad student. So finding a group of people that will keep you on task and will review your work. Something I like about the Elliott School is how much people want to work together, and how collaborative a lot of classes are. We learn from each other here.

What advice do you have for students for staying motivated at work or in class?

This might sound simple, but keeping track of everything is going to be key. I have two small notebooks and a planner to keep track of everything I need to do for each time I sit down to study. Seeing things on paper helps me stay on track. I also utilize Excel to keep track of all my assignments and other things like internship applications.

Staying motivated can be tough sometimes when you feel burnt out. I like to keep a good balance in my social and academic life. Making sure I reserve time to take breaks from studying to meet up with friends. D.C. is also a great place to find new hobbies; every week I do ceramics and take language classes.

Make sure you are also building relationships with professors and peers at the Elliott School, they are here to help when you are feeling unmotivated and need extra assistance.

What has been your most memorable experience while studying at the Elliott School?

My most memorable experiences at Elliott have been with my cohort. We recently all met up for the cherry blossom bloom in D.C.. It was my first time being in D.C. for the bloom and I was great to experience it all together. Building community in graduate school is very important, these are the people who will be your colleagues in the professional world. I am lucky enough to have a great group of people in my program, and I look forward to working with them in the future!