Current Student Story: Arica Young

Arica Young is a UAP PhD candidate at the Virginia Tech National Capital Region campus. She currently works as an international trade specialist at the Department of Commerce International Trade Agency. Arica started there as what was known as a Presidential Management Intern back in 1994, after finishing her Masters at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. Before that she was a Fulbright Fellow to Vienna Austria, after completing her BA in German from La Salle University in Philadelphia. She has also taken time off from the Commerce Department to take a Robert Bosch Fellowship in Germany. Previous employment for Arica includes running her own business providing marketing services to small architecture firms and working in marketing for the engineering firm Dewberry.

Arica’s chief areas of focus are suburban development, ecovillages, cohousing, and sustainable design in planning. When asked why the Virginia Tech UAP program was appealing to her, she indicated that given her non-traditional planning background, she was intrigued by the linkages between public policy and the GIA, international affairs, programs offered at Virginia Tech. It was an opportunity for her to combine her passions— urban planning and international affairs. Arica states further that she thinks this is a hidden strength of the UAP program and the connections between the programs should be furthered by staff and students. She also was very pleased to find how welcoming the program was to students who have not been traditional professional planners.

When asked to add any other thoughts on the UAP Program, Arica again encourages the program to strengthen its connections between the UAP and the GIA programs. She emphasizes the ability to draw from the expertise of amazing faculty focusing on fields from housing and transportation policy to global environmental politics. Further, as a PhD student dedicated to the theories of urban planning, she found it refreshing that the UAP program welcomes a range of students, including those with non-traditional planning backgrounds. Finally, she found the part-time option provided by the Alexandria program both beneficial and unique. “It made my dream of a PhD in planning a real possibility without being quite the economic shock to my family,” Arica states. “I don’t think enough schools realize the level of dedication part-time PhD students can have. We can get the work done— and by necessity we are very focused about it.”