Hear from a first-year student on how she balances school with her well-being — all while working part-time as a mental health advocate on campus
Nomuna Surkhiisaikhan exudes peace — something that becomes apparent even shortly after meeting her. It’s no surprise, then, that her fellow classmates at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) have looked to her as a resource for cultivating calm in their own lives as busy graduate students.
Originally from Mongolia, Surkhiisaikhan studied at New York University’s Shanghai campus for her undergraduate degree. After graduating, she worked at the Asia Foundation’s Mongolia office, but when she started considering graduate school, she looked to the U.S. She recalled how UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) caught her eye because of its emphasis on a rigorous quantitative curriculum, which fit the type of skills she was looking to strengthen in her post-graduate career.
GPS News spoke with Surkhiisaikhan about her experience once she arrived in San Diego to pursue her Master of International Affairs (MIA), including her experience having a part-time job on campus, working to cultivate balance in her busy schedule and building community on a new continent.
GPS News: Was mental well-being, or having a work-life balance, something that you prioritized even before coming to GPS, or is it something you found you were interested in after you started?
Nomuna Surkhiisaikhan: Mental health is a long-running passion of mine. I’m really into yoga and meditation, because it’s very important to be centered and grounded in the midst of all the chaos with everything that’s going on around the world these days. Having to relocate into many different cultures and communities has put a lot of strain on my mental health, so I know how it feels to have it be challenged.
When I was looking for a part-time job to work while I was at GPS, the Graduate and Professional Student Well-being Associate [GAPSwell] role at the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services [CAPS] stood out to me.
You put on an event at GPS dedicated to stress management. How did that come about?
My peers and I can attest to how hectic this program is, especially when you first start. There were so many quantitative things to learn in the curriculum that were completely new to me, and the fast pace of the quarter system was something that I had to adjust to. Everything felt really exciting but also super overwhelming.
“I’m able to talk to so many friends about stress and well-being because we’re all going through the same experience. My friends at GPS have been a really good mental health support.”
I noticed that when I was talking about my job and what I do, people at GPS seemed really interested. That gave me the idea to host a stress management event at GPS, and we did that last quarter. The workshop focused on how to recognize stress as a healthy, physiological response versus burnout, and it was heartwarming to see my peers discuss openly about their mental health journey and personal strategies since starting grad school and adjusting to a new environment.
How do you balance your own mental well-being with your studies?
The biggest thing is community support. I’m able to talk to so many friends about stress and well-being because we’re all going through the same experience. My friends at GPS have been a really good mental health support.
This quarter, I had a weekly coffee date scheduled with my friend, because she’s a Ph.D. student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and our buildings are far away from each other. It’s nice to have a time set aside where we can regularly meet and catch up and just talk about our week, and it’s something I look forward to every week to decompress and destress through some caffeine and some good conversation.
You’re just finishing up your first year, but do you have any ideas about what you’d like to do with your MIA degree?
Everything is revolving around artificial intelligence these days, and I’m interested in how AI can help do good rather than just bad. I was a very skeptical AI user at first — there are a lot of effects it’s having on employment and economic changes that can exacerbate social and political tensions.
But the technology itself has so much potential to impact communities that otherwise wouldn’t have been able to learn how to code or build their own businesses, and I strongly believe in its potential to have really good impacts on equity. Especially for the migrant community, I’m kind of mind-blown by how much AI can influence that space.
“It’s been a really fruitful and heartwarming experience getting to know people from all different kinds of backgrounds. I feel really proud to be here at GPS representing Mongolia.”
I’m thinking about pursuing a career that has something to do with digital inclusion and how technological developments can be regulated or made more accessible. This summer, I’m interning at the International Rescue Committee’s San Diego office, and we are working on how to teach refugees and immigrants about new and emerging technologies and using AI and virtual reality technology as a tool for learning and accessibility.
What has your experience as an international student been like?
It’s been a really fruitful and heartwarming experience getting to know people from all different kinds of backgrounds. I am the only Mongolian in my cohort this year, and speaking with my friends from other underrepresented countries gives us an opportunity to learn about diverse cultures and communities. A few weeks ago, my international friends and I had a potluck where we all brought in food that represented our cultures, and shared about our countries and cuisine through games and conversations. Moments like this — when we get to share our backgrounds and reveal things that are normally not readily seen in the classroom setting — are so beautiful. I feel really proud to be here at GPS representing Mongolia.
