Ryen Eley is a junior from Maryland majoring in global affairs with an advanced language certificate in Chinese. To enhance her language skills and cultural awareness, she spent eight weeks in the summer of 2025 studying abroad in China as a Light Fellow. She is interested in foreign policy, great power competition, liberation movements, and postcolonial thought. She hopes to study interactions between world powers and the Global South as these hegemonic countries compete for influence on the global stage. Outside of class, Ryen is engaged in mentoring and community service, serving as the outreach and programming director for the Yale Urban Improvement Corps, the director of Program Instruction for Hemispheres under the Yale International Relations Association, and the treasurer for the Pi Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She also works as a student tour guide at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.