“I’ve always wanted to live in Washington, DC, and when I decided to pursue graduate school in international affairs, I knew I wanted to be at the best of the best,” she says. 

As she prepares to walk across the stage this May to receive her Master of Science in Foreign Service degree with a concentration in Science, Technology and International Affairs, those once-broad interests will have sharpened into a more defined path. Through coursework, research and hands-on policy experience, Nguyen has developed a focused commitment to climate finance and carbon markets.

Refining global interests through community and coursework

As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Nguyen grew up in a diverse immigrant community in Wichita, Kansas, surrounded by people who were constantly bridging cultures, languages and shared values. 

That environment made global issues feel personal from a young age and sparked her interest in international affairs, she shares. While she initially chose the MSFS program for its rigor and leadership in international affairs, it was that same instinct for connection that ultimately confirmed her decision.
“I wanted to be surrounded by ambitious classmates and faculty who take global challenges seriously, and MSFS absolutely delivers that,” she says. “At the same time, it’s a surprisingly close-knit community.”

Early in the program, Nguyen participated in the Gettysburg Leadership Staff Ride, an interactive seminar sponsored by Georgetown’s Department of Government held at Gettysburg National Military Park designed to highlight applicable lessons of leadership, tactics and strategy, communications, use of terrain and the psychology of persons in battle. This experience, she says, set the tone for “that balance of history, strategy and reflection” throughout her time in the MSFS program. At the same time, she continued developing her Japanese proficiency, progressing from intermediate coursework to Business Japanese and strengthening both her policy vocabulary and professional communication skills.

“One of my favorite weekly traditions has been the Japanese language table, where students of all proficiency levels grab a free drink from the MUG and practice speaking together in a relaxed setting,” she says. She credits her instructors—Professors Yoshiko Mori, Motoko Omori Lavallee and Kumi Sato—with supporting her growth inside and outside the classroom.

Her favorite class, however, was Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis, taught by Professor Julia Marrs. Covering the fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, the course introduced tools increasingly used in climate science, urban planning and security analysis. Nguyen says Marrs’ kindness and clarity “made what initially felt like an intimidating technical subject both accessible and exciting,” while the class itself transformed how she approaches global challenges by equipping her with spatial tools to visualize patterns in climate vulnerability, infrastructure and security risk.

“Being able to map data and see how geography shapes policy made issues like climate security and humanitarian resilience feel tangible and measurable in a new way,” she says. 

Her final project for Marrs’ class, “Weathering the Ring of Fire: Mapping Climate Hazards on Military Installations in the Indo-Pacific,” applied those lessons to examine how climate risks intersect with defense strategy. The project sharpened her interest in using geospatial analysis to visualize complex climate security dynamics and demonstrated how technical tools can inform strategic decision-making.

Nguyen also credits Professor Theresa Sabonis-Helf, her STIA concentration chair, with profoundly impacting her time at Georgetown. Generous with her time, Sabonis-Helf spent hours in conversation with Nguyen discussing everything from favorite classes to larger questions about energy security and how to remain hopeful about the future.

“She consistently encouraged me to pursue experiential learning beyond the classroom,” she says, crediting Sabonis-Helf with her STIA-sponsored visits to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and NearStar Fusion to learn more about advancements in nuclear energy and fusion technology. “Those experiences made the policy discussions we had in class feel tangible and immediate, and they deepened my interest in the role of advanced energy technologies in global security.”

Growing through leadership, service and global dialogue

Throughout her MSFS journey, Nguyen has come across multiple opportunities that make her experience feel full circle, like volunteering with the Kakehashi Program, which connected back to her time living in Japan. 

At Georgetown, she served as communications and media head for the SFS Energy Club, a graduate teaching assistant for a course on Energy Transitions and a graduate student fellow with the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. In the latter role, Nguyen helped organize public dialogues and programs on major political and social issues. She was also elected as an MSFS student representative and helped facilitate communication between students and MSFS program leadership. One of her favorite responsibilities was organizing the annual MSFS Winter Ball at the Mexican Cultural Institute—a formal winter celebration where students, faculty and alumni come together to connect, celebrate and network, all in their finest attire.

Beyond the Hilltop, Nguyen gained professional experience with USAID, the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Holy See Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, which she described as feeling like a family. Working at the intersection of climate change, migration, technology governance and humanity, she supported preparations for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the High-Level Political Forum while with the mission in New York City—gaining firsthand exposure to multilateral negotiations and development finance discussions.

“In true UN fashion, we even had our own ‘side events,’ from Mets baseball games and movie nights to one memorable afternoon when we were invited to a private rooftop overlooking Times Square and surprised with a projection of Pope Leo XIV’s face on a massive Times Square screen,” she recalls. “The incredible home-cooked lunches didn’t hurt either.”

These experiences have deepened her interest in how climate vulnerability intersects with fragile and crisis-affected settings. But beyond the professional opportunities, it’s the everyday moments, like running into program leadership in the halls, where “ambition and kindness coexist so naturally,”that made the program feel accessible and supportive in a way she hadn’t expected.

Where global policy meets friendship and community

With graduation approaching, Nguyen hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of climate security and development finance, helping design and deploy financial mechanisms that strengthen resilience in vulnerable and fragile contexts. Building on her experiences, she also hopes to remain active in spaces where policy, finance and ethical leadership converge, while continuing to build bridges between the United States and Japan and explore the moral and diplomatic dimensions of global governance.

“Together, they helped me see how finance, security, and diplomacy can reinforce one another in global policymaking,” she says. “MSFS put me at the center of global policy conversations while grounding me in a close, supportive community. It’s rigorous, fast-paced and full of opportunity.”

“I’ll miss the energy of being in a place where global policy feels immediate and alive,” she says.

Looking back on her time at Georgetown, Nguyen recalls highlights such as meeting inspiring public figures, like the Irish Taoiseach and the Mongolian Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar; competing in Model NATO; and winning first place in the Global Social Innovation Lab Pitch Competition with her teammates. But some of her favorite memories are the smaller, lighter moments—getting overly competitive during classroom negotiations and war games, hosting mini potlucks in her ethics class or organizing a zoo trip with her cohort to practice a little “panda diplomacy.”

“There’s something special about walking from class to an embassy event or leaving a seminar discussion and heading to a book talk with a policymaker whose work you just studied. Georgetown, and SFS in particular, makes the world feel both big and accessible at the same time.”

China is strengthening Hong Kong as a global gold trading hub to expand its role in gold markets, reinforce Hong Kong’s financial position, and gradually increase renminbi usage in commodity transactions. The shift could contribute to a more multipolar gold market that coexists with established Western financial centers rather than displacing them.

As U.S.–China strategic competition intensifies, most attention focuses on tariffs, export controls, semiconductors and military signaling in the Indo-Pacific. Yet an equally consequential transformation is unfolding in the architecture of global finance. Payment systems, clearing networks, benchmark indices and reserve assets are increasingly viewed not merely as market mechanisms but as instruments of national resilience and influence. Within this broader recalibration, China’s push to strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a global gold trading hub deserves careful attention.

At first glance, gold may seem an unlikely arena for geopolitical significance. It is an ancient asset, often perceived as a conservative hedge rather than a strategic lever. Yet gold occupies a unique dual role in the international system, functioning both as a commodity and as a monetary anchor. Central banks across advanced and emerging economies have increased gold purchases in recent years, reflecting a desire for diversification amid sanctions risk, currency volatility and systemic uncertainty. In a world where financial interdependence can become politicized, gold’s neutrality has regained appeal.

Global gold pricing today remains anchored in established Western hubs, particularly London and New York. These centers benefit from deep derivatives markets, trusted legal systems, and decades of accumulated liquidity. The infrastructure surrounding benchmark pricing, clearing and custody is embedded within a U.S.-dollar-centric system that has provided stability and efficiency for global investors for generations. The durability of this system rests on institutional credibility, rule of law and market depth, factors that are not easily replicated elsewhere.

Yet the distribution of physical supply and demand has shifted. China is the world’s largest gold producer and one of its largest consumers. The mismatch between China’s real-economy weight and its influence over pricing benchmarks reflects a broader structural imbalance in global finance, where economic gravity is evolving faster than institutional architecture.

Beijing’s support for expanding gold trading functions in Hong Kong can be interpreted as a measured response to this imbalance. Hong Kong’s role is not incidental. Its common law framework, internationally recognized regulatory standards and convertible currency regime give it a hybrid character: sovereign Chinese territory with global financial connectivity. Enhancing its gold trading, storage, settlement, and derivatives ecosystem reinforces Hong Kong’s function as China’s primary international financial interface.

From a geo-economic perspective, three objectives appear to converge.

First, strengthening Hong Kong’s gold market deepens the city’s integration into global commodity finance at a time when its strategic role is under scrutiny. A vibrant gold hub would expand liquidity pools, create new financial products, and reinforce Hong Kong’s relevance in global asset allocation. Rather than representing fragmentation, additional nodes in global trading networks can increase redundancy and resilience, reducing systemic concentration risk.

Second, gold trading offers a pragmatic channel for incremental renminbi internationalization. Currency internationalization is not achieved through declarations; it is built gradually through usage, liquidity, and confidence. If some gold transactions, particularly those involving mainland institutions or emerging market partners, are settled in offshore renminbi, this would represent diversification rather than displacement. The dollar’s dominance rests on deep capital markets and institutional trust; incremental expansion of renminbi settlement in specific sectors does not automatically undermine that foundation.

Third, expanding gold-related infrastructure in Hong Kong provides a degree of insulation from geopolitical shocks. Over the past decade, financial sanctions have become a more prominent feature of international statecraft. From Washington’s perspective, sanctions are a legitimate tool to uphold national and allied security interests. From Beijing’s perspective, excessive reliance on external financial nodes creates vulnerabilities. Developing alternative trading and clearing capacity can therefore be viewed less as a challenge to existing systems and more as strategic risk management in an era of heightened mistrust.

This brings us to the central question for U.S.–China relations: Is commodity pricing power destined to become another zero-sum battleground, or can it evolve within a framework of competitive coexistence?

Pricing power carries influence. Benchmarks shape how contracts are written, how derivatives are structured and how reserves are valued. They influence capital allocation decisions across continents. Historically, the concentration of commodity pricing in a handful of Western centers has reinforced the centrality of the dollar in global trade and finance. As economic weight shifts toward Asia, pressure for greater regional representation in pricing mechanisms is a predictable outcome.

However, greater plurality does not necessarily equate to fragmentation. Energy markets already demonstrate coexistence among multiple pricing references across regions. Financial markets are capable of sustaining parallel benchmarks serving different investor bases and time zones. In the case of gold, a deepening Asian trading hub could complement rather than replace established Western centers, reflecting the reality of a 24-hour global market.

Hong Kong is unlikely to displace London or New York in the foreseeable future. The credibility, liquidity and trust embedded in those markets are substantial. But Hong Kong’s development could gradually contribute to a more multipolar ecosystem in which Asian trading hours, regional demand dynamics and renminbi-linked products play a more visible role. Such evolution would mirror broader changes in the global economy rather than signal systemic rupture.

For the United States, this shift underscores the importance of sustaining the strengths that underpin dollar leadership: transparent governance, open capital markets, legal predictability, and financial innovation. The attractiveness of U.S. financial markets has historically been its most durable strategic asset. A competitive global environment can reinforce those strengths if approached with confidence rather than defensiveness.

For China, credibility will be decisive. International investors require regulatory clarity, enforceable contracts, and unrestricted access to liquidity. If Hong Kong’s gold hub is perceived as market-driven and rule-based, it can attract global participation. If, however, benchmarks are seen as politicized or opaque, investor trust will erode. Financial influence ultimately rests on confidence, not decree.

The broader significance lies in how both countries manage structural change. As economic power diffuses, financial governance will inevitably adjust. Attempts to freeze the status quo are unlikely to succeed indefinitely, but unmanaged transitions risk instability. Dialogue on financial stability, transparency in commodity markets and technical cooperation between regulators could help ensure that competition remains bounded and predictable.

Commodity pricing power may indeed emerge as a subtle but consequential frontier in U.S.–China financial relations. Yet frontiers are not inherently battlefields. They can also serve as laboratories for adaptation. If Hong Kong’s expanding role in gold trading contributes to diversification without destabilization, it may offer a model for how major powers can pursue strategic interests while preserving systemic stability.

In a world confronting shared challenges, from debt vulnerabilities to climate transition and technological disruption, neither the United States nor China benefits from a fractured financial order. Gold’s resurgence as a reserve asset reflects a collective search for stability. Ensuring that the infrastructure surrounding it remains transparent, resilient, and interconnected is a common interest.

Ultimately, the evolution of gold trading in Hong Kong symbolizes a broader reality: the global financial system is entering a more distributed phase. How Washington and Beijing respond will shape not only their bilateral relationship but the durability of the international monetary system itself.

Student loan refinancing is often billed as a way to expedite and simplify student loan repayment. And it certainly can be: By replacing your existing loans with a new one, you can potentially score a lower interest rate, and you will have just one payment due date to keep track of. But refinancing is not the right strategy for everyone.

In general, it’s a move that tends to make sense if you have private student loans and if your credit score and income are “high enough to qualify you for a lender’s lowest interest rates,” said NerdWallet. However, in the following four instances, you may want to reconsider or at least think twice.

1. You have federal loans and may want those benefits