Meet Jill Huang, a second year Johns Hopkins SAIS student from China. Jill is president of the Student Government Association and she is concentrating in China Studies.

When Jill was a junior in college, she had the opportunity to come to Johns Hopkins SAIS to participate in a Model APEC conference where she met a few of the school’s professors and attended lectures. She was very impressed and inspired by the endless possibilities the school could provide and decided to apply to the graduate program a few years later.

As a Chinese citizen, Jill chose China Studies in order to examine her country from a more objective and in-depth perspective and due to the impressive credentials of the program director, Professor David Lampton, who is one of the most influential China scholars in the US. Most importantly, she highly values the strong and exceptional professional network available through the China Studies concentration.

This winter, Jill had the opportunity to participate in a study trip to Taiwan with 11 other students and Professors David Brown and Carla Freeman from the China Studies program in order to observe the Taiwan presidential and legislative elections through interactions with candidates, senior policymakers, political party representatives, voters, academic experts and polling observation. This was an unparalleled opportunity for her to watch Taiwan’s democratic evolution first-hand and gain a deeper understanding of cross-strait relations.

With her busy schedule, Jill also has a fun outlet for relaxation. Whenever she feels stressed out she goes to the dog park in downtown Washington, DC to watch the puppies playing. Her friends think it’s a little strange that she likes to stare at other people’s dogs but for her, it’s the perfect way to de-compress.