McKenzie
UCDC Peer Advisor
- Profile
Profile
Pronouns: she/her/hers
McKenzie is a first year graduate student pursing a Master of Public Policy at the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) at UCSD. She graduated from UCSD in March 2020 with her bachelor degree in Political Science, Public Policy. McKenzie is a military brat who grew up traveling the U.S. and Europe while her father served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Her family retired in San Diego when she began high school. McKenzie loved (and still loves) San Diego so much that she decided to stay close to home for college. During her first two years at UC San Diego, she majored in Molecular Biology and worked part-time as a research assistant in the Olefsky Lab at UCSD studying potential drug therapies in macrophages and gut microbiota for type-II diabetes. After working on two statewide campaigns in the 2016 election, Prop 67 and increasing youth voter turnout, she realized her passion for communicating research may be better suited to public policy. She changed her major in her third year and took up a position as a Public Policy intern at a mid-sized non-profit in south San Diego focused on providing subsidized child care for working families. She participated in UCDC as part of the Winter 2019 cohort, during which she interned at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars assisting in Media Relations. Her internship occurred during the longest government shutdown in history, which made for a very unique UCDC experience. Her favorite memory of D.C. was spontaneously watching the live filming for Season 3 of the Handmaid’s Tale on National Mall and being featured on Hulu’s promotional Instagram video with the co-stars of the show. After her adventures in the capital McKenzie was inspired to pursue a graduate degree in policy-making. Fun facts: McKenzie is an alumni of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and was formerly the Operations Student Manager at Audrey’s Café in Geisel Library. In her spare time she loves to practice acrobatic yoga, try coffee shops that offer gluten free pastries, ride mountain bikes with family and friends, and talk about national security strategy with her dad.
McKenzie is a first year graduate student pursing a Master of Public Policy at the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) at UCSD. She graduated from UCSD in March 2020 with her bachelor degree in Political Science, Public Policy. McKenzie is a military brat who grew up traveling the U.S. and Europe while her father served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Her family retired in San Diego when she began high school. McKenzie loved (and still loves) San Diego so much that she decided to stay close to home for college. During her first two years at UC San Diego, she majored in Molecular Biology and worked part-time as a research assistant in the Olefsky Lab at UCSD studying potential drug therapies in macrophages and gut microbiota for type-II diabetes. After working on two statewide campaigns in the 2016 election, Prop 67 and increasing youth voter turnout, she realized her passion for communicating research may be better suited to public policy. She changed her major in her third year and took up a position as a Public Policy intern at a mid-sized non-profit in south San Diego focused on providing subsidized child care for working families. She participated in UCDC as part of the Winter 2019 cohort, during which she interned at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars assisting in Media Relations. Her internship occurred during the longest government shutdown in history, which made for a very unique UCDC experience. Her favorite memory of D.C. was spontaneously watching the live filming for Season 3 of the Handmaid’s Tale on National Mall and being featured on Hulu’s promotional Instagram video with the co-stars of the show. After her adventures in the capital McKenzie was inspired to pursue a graduate degree in policy-making. Fun facts: McKenzie is an alumni of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and was formerly the Operations Student Manager at Audrey’s Café in Geisel Library. In her spare time she loves to practice acrobatic yoga, try coffee shops that offer gluten free pastries, ride mountain bikes with family and friends, and talk about national security strategy with her dad.