Name: Tara Razjouyan
Program: Graduated from UVA in 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish, currently a second year accelerated Master’s student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Hometown: Vienna, VA
What’s your favorite thing about UVA?
My favorite thing is actually what I used to hate the most about UVA. When I first got here, I thought that all the UVA lingo – first year, the Lawn, Academical Village – was pretentious. But then I bought into it and “drank the Kool-Aid,” as one would say. Now I value the unique language we have to express things, because it’s all associated with tradition and it bonds us across generations. Plus, I’m a huge history nerd, so I really appreciate going to a school that takes pride in its history.
What has been the most challenging experience you’ve had at UVA?
I think the most challenging experience I’ve had while at UVA has always been trying to juggle everything at once. As a UVA student, both through my undergraduate and graduate career, I’ve always fit into the box by trying to do everything and excel at everything you do. So I think what boils down to my most challenging experience has just been learning how to say no. It’s getting a recommendation or an email from someone urging me to apply for a new position or get involved in a new group, and realizing that there’s only so much that one person can do. It’s about forcing yourself to limit yourself.
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
I think that my proudest accomplishment has honestly been graduating with distinction. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to cram all my needed undergraduate classes into three years, and there were definitely times that I wanted to throw my laptop out the window, or run away to Columbia to be a bartender. But, I stuck it out and listened to my academic advisor who told me that I would always look back and kick myself if i didn’t push myself to graduate with distinction.
Do you have a “happiness secret”?
I think I learned my happiness secret last year living in a house with twenty other girls, while functioning as an executive member of my sorority and various other organizations, and juggling an undergraduate and graduate program. I quickly realized that you can’t do it all, or as Michelle Obama once said: “You can have it all, just not at the same time.” So with that, my happiness secret is to make a little bit of time for yourself every day. As a super extroverted person, I had a hard time adjusting to that, and I was confused why I wasn’t energized by living around so many other people. I realized that I wasn’t leaving time for myself to just go to the gym, or do those little things that I like to do for me time.
What inspires you?
I would say that multiple things inspire me. The first and foremost being my parents, as cliche as that sounds. They lived through an entire country’s revolution, and when I think about that, I feel like I dont have the right to complain about some of my challenges. I think something that inspires me everyday is people. Being so active in public policy, you learn quickly that the world has a lot of problems and that people aren’t perfect. But, thinking about all the people that have instilled their faith in me, like my close friends and the underclassmen that I’ve been able to mentor who look up to me – and to that extent, those who have mentored me and passed down their wisdom – all inspire me to do right by them.
Current favorite song?
It still happens to be One Dance by Drake… But it’s tied with Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake.
Any advice for the women of UVA and beyond?
I would say through my summer fellowship [with the National Women’s Business Council], working specifically on women’s issues as they relate to business, I’ve realized that women still have a long way to go in terms of achieving a one hundred percent equal footing with men. So with this, I would encourage women to empower each other, to realize that no dream is too big, and to not limit themselves and think that they can’t do something just because a field or a major or some aspect of society traditionally had no place for them. And I think that the best way to do this is to realize you always have a support system built in around you: other women.