Roxana (Qinhong) Wang, a recent graduate of the UC Berkeley class of 2024, has been awarded a 2025-26 Schwarzman Scholarship. Wang, who studied Comparative Literature and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies in the College of Letters & Science, was selected as one of 150 scholars from a pool of nearly 5,000 candidates. She is Berkeley’s sixteenth recipient of the award since its inception in 2013.
“Many highly qualified Berkeley students apply for the Schwarzman Scholarship every year, so it is impossible to predict who will be offered a place in the program's next cohort,” said Keila Diehl, National Scholarships Coordinator for the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships (OURS). “That said, Roxana did stand out as an exceptional candidate because of her atypical academic profile… her diverse leadership experience, and her extraordinarily deep and broad research and work history in the field of historic site preservation… Roxana will, no doubt, add engaging perspectives and interdisciplinary depth to the 2025–2026 Schwarzman cohort.”
As a Schwarzman Scholar, Wang will participate in a one-year, fully-funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Schwarzman Scholars describes the program as being “designed to prepare the next generation of global leaders,” with curriculum based on the “pillars of China, leadership, and global affairs.” The program describes ideal candidates as possessing “leadership qualities and the potential to foster cross-cultural understanding.”
Although Schwarzman Scholars come from diverse backgrounds and fields, Wang sees herself as an outlier among her programmatic peers.
“At first glance, I do not look like a typical Schwarzman Scholars candidate. My background is in the humanities, whereas Schwarzman Scholars,” she said, “is ‘stereotyped’ as a selective program for high-achieving finance and international relations students.”
Despite this, Wang is confident in her choice to participate in the Schwarzman Scholars program.
“I have always been sure that Schwarzman Scholars is the program for me,” Wang said. “I aspire to shape international policy that pertains to cultural heritage, and this is a developing field with a lot of fascinating possibilities—one can treasure the past and consider how archaeological sites should be protected during armed conflicts, or anticipate the future by examining how cultural heritage can contribute to sustainable development. However, working on any one of those ‘big questions’ would require a strong capacity to unite stakeholders and craft innovative solutions. Schwarzman Scholars is the only scholarship program that has an emphasis on leadership and interdisciplinary problem-solving, so it meets my career development needs perfectly.”
Wang, who was raised in Nanjing, China, looks forward to the opportunity to examine her country through an academic lens for the first time.
“Although I grew up in China, I did not take any classes on it during my undergraduate years,” said Wang. “In my application, I mentioned that I wanted to learn how China manages its rich cultural heritage and uses it for public diplomacy.”
At Berkeley, Wang earned a Departmental Citation in Comparative Literature and the Chair’s Award in Distinction in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, and she credits her language studies in particular with informing her passion for cultural heritage.
“Due to the nature of my majors, I was constantly taking language classes at Berkeley. Because I am working in Armenia, I now speak Armenian too. Thus, I currently know five languages in total. This is not very impressive for some people, but it is a feat for me,” Wang said. “The fight to become multilingual shaped my perspective. The slow progress of language learning taught me about humility and incremental success, and languages helped me enter dialogues that were otherwise inaccessible in English. I would say that my undergraduate studies helped shape me into a better change-maker in my chosen field.”
Wang already has plans to continue pursuing her passions as a Schwarzman Scholar.
“At Schwarzman College, I will use the rich resources offered by the program to connect with established professionals and actively communicate with peers from different fields to strengthen my interdisciplinary thinking,” Wang said. “In fact, I have already connected with like-minded scholars to launch some projects.”
In reflecting on her experience in the College of Letters & Science, Wang enthused, “L&S is full of talented students. I was fortunate enough to meet friends from across the majors, with whom I can talk about everything from AI regulation to classical Japanese literature. Being surrounded by such a group of sharp and hard-working peers encouraged me to keep improving myself.”
She advises students self-reflect on their experiences in and out of the classroom to find their passions and futures.
“I encourage everyone to start thinking about their career development early on in their L&S experience. For my fellow humanities students especially, career development is not very straightforward,” Wang said. “However, the humanities teach us to write, think, and articulate, and there are many possibilities when it comes to how to apply those skills… One piece of advice I got was to ‘turn my passion into a career,’ and I think this is the best to stay motivated.”
Current Berkeley students interested in pursuing scholarship opportunities like Schwarzman Scholars should visit the National Scholarships and Experiential Fellowships Office website and subscribe to the OURS National Scholarships Newsletter
“In addition to getting the word out on campus about remarkable opportunities like the Schwarzman Scholars Program, OURS scholarship advisors meet one-on-one with students to see if they are a good fit for the programs they are interested in, brainstorm about whom to ask for letters of recommendation, provide feedback on drafts of their application materials, and -- should the applicants be selected as finalists -- set up mock interviews,” said Diehl. “We work with students through every step of the process.”
Wang advises students to consider all that scholarship opportunities like the Schwarzman can do to prepare for their futures.
“Prestigious scholarships are not ends in themselves, but rather gateways toward better personal development. Don’t just apply because of the dazzling titles,” Wang said. “Rather, consider why you need the scholarship and how the scholarship offers you the resources to make a more positive impact.”
