Throughout her time on the Hilltop, Marina McPhail (SFS’25) has always been one to take risks. As an international political economy (IPEC) major, she has studied the relationships of businesses with local communities, with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. As graduation approaches, it’s clear that her willingness to step outside her comfort zone has remained a constant throughout her time at Georgetown.
Academics at a crossroads
Hailing from the San Francisco Bay area, McPhail faced a dilemma soon after arriving on campus. She felt pulled toward both math and political theory and was reluctant to exclude either one from her course of study. However, she was also drawn to the IPEC major’s focus on considering human calculations within more rigid economic frameworks, understanding that participants in an economy are “not letters or numbers or rocks or pieces of cheese–they’re people.”
Soon after declaring her major, McPhail began to meet key mentors who helped shape her understanding of the intersection between individuals and the economy, including Professor Faud Hasanov, an official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She took his International Finance course and even got to visit the IMF’s office.
Unexpected opportunities across the world
During a summer program in Tanzania, McPhail was connected with Mohammed Dewji (B’98), one of Africa’s most prominent entrepreneurs, who owns a sprawling network of businesses across the continent. McPhail was slated to spend a semester abroad in Ecuador, but she couldn’t shake off the idea of working further with Dewji. As the fall of her junior year approached, she made an unlikely request—would he have a place for her to work in his company? It was a risky move, but one that aligned closely with her interests in business and trade.
Against all odds, it worked, and she spent her semester working at the Dar es Salaam headquarters of Dewji’s companies. She mainly focused on the organization’s philanthropic endeavors, which included initiatives on clean water, health and education. She also gained extensive corporate experience, conducting analyses and meeting with stakeholders throughout her time there.
“That semester was a once in a lifetime experience, and taught me very quickly how to work long hours, attack unfamiliar challenges with grit, and succeed in a professional setting while adjusting to a new language and culture,” she says. Since her time in Tanzania, McPhail has continued to nurture her interest in the region, pursuing Swahili as an area of study and returning to the country for the U.S. State Department’s prestigious Critical Language Scholarship program last summer.
A passion for mentorship
McPhail has made it a point to pass along knowledge she’s gained on the Hilltop to younger students. For the past three years, she has been a teaching assistant for Principles of Macroeconomics, a core class taken by hundreds of SFS students every year. That role brought together her passions for economics and teaching:.
“Each cohort of students I’ve had the privilege to teach has impressed me so much,” she says, adding that “Georgetown kids are the best—I always tell them that the most valuable asset in our classroom is friendship!”
McPhail has taken these teaching skills beyond the Georgetown campus. An Ignite Fellow with Teach for America over the past three years, McPhail has virtually tutored elementary school students in underserved schools across the country in both math and English.
Balancing the hustle and tackling new interests
McPhail has had no shortage of academic and professional rigor during her time on the Hilltop, but she has also stepped outside of her comfort zone and embraced new passions. In senior year, she joined the Georgetown Triathlon Club: “It was such an awesome experience to show up on race day with more than one thousand other college students and think, these kids don’t know what they’re missing. I get to represent GEORGETOWN! How lucky am I to have ended up as a Hoya?”
Looking ahead through a lens of service
As she prepares to embark on Peace Corps service in Botswana, McPhail is continuing to serve others. This thread can be traced all the way back to her freshman Proseminar, Re-examining the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Literature and Film with Professor Meital Orr, in which she learned that “thinking critically and thinking compassionately aren’t at odds.” Her upcoming Peace Corps experience will be the culmination of her study of development and assisting those in need: “I can’t wait for this next adventure and am so grateful for the Georgetown mentorship, friendships and support that got me here.”