During her time at UNCG, Amanda Ingman has studied abroad, been an active member of the Lloyd International Honors College, written an undergraduate thesis, worked an internship at the Greensboro Children’s Museum and volunteered at local schools.

What’s even more impressive? She’s done it all in only two and a half years.

Ingman attended the Early College at Guilford, graduating in 2013 with a year and a half of college course credit already under her belt. Not only did the writing-intensive and demanding coursework prepare her for college, Ingman was able to explore different areas of interest early and accelerate her undergraduate studies.

While UNCG appealed to Ingman for many of reasons, she said the Lloyd International Honors College was a “huge draw” for her. She was impressed with the program’s challenging and diverse coursework, and she was even more impressed when they actively pursued her to join.

She also enjoyed the diversity of thought she saw at UNCG. When she received the Ethel Virginia Butler Centennial Scholarship, it was a done deal.

Ingman decided to major in international and global studies with a concentration in international global affairs and development, as well as French – a move not surprising considering her own global ties.

Born in Sweden to Finnish parents, Ingman has spent the majority of her life in the United States.

“I started learning English when I was 2,” she said, explaining that her family first moved to Seattle when she was a toddler.

Shortly after, they moved to Greensboro, where they lived for several years before spending four years in Finland. They moved back to the United States, settling in Summerfield, where they have lived for the last decade.

Ingman still has deep ties to Finland, however.

“My family makes a point to go back every year,” she said, adding that her immediate family members are the only ones who live in the United States.

Ingman spends her summers in Finland exploring Helsinki parks, visiting grandparents and cousins and relaxing at her family’s cabin in the Archipelago.

“I come from one of the healthiest, happiest countries,” she said.

Ingman believes being an immigrant is part of the reason, along with encouragement from her parents, that she’s been so successful. It’s part of her nature to want to prove she can excel in her adopted homeland.

And she has certainly proven herself.

Ingman has maintained a 4.0 grade point average since her second year at UNCG. She wrote her capstone research project on the relationship between Russia and NATO, and she spent a summer studying abroad in Switzerland. She also speaks five languages –English, French, Finnish, Swedish and Spanish.

Ingman worked at the Red Collection consignment store, as well as interned with the Greensboro Children’s Museum’s Edible Schoolyard teaching children about seasonal and sustainable gardening. She’s also coached a Girls on the Run group and been a reading buddy.

After graduation, Ingman plans to work and apply for graduate programs in Scandinavia. She hopes to start a program in the fall that’s a continuation of her international and global studies work, but that narrows in on a specific topic, such as peace and conflict studies, security and terrorism, human security or global development.

Her ultimate goal, Ingman said, is to be “relevant and useful” in her career.

“I want to have the linguistic, analytical and negotiating skills to create solutions for local and global problems that threaten human rights, national security and regional stability,” she said. “These are issues that are shifting all the time, so it’s important to really stay informed and be willing to change perspectives.”

 

Story by Jeanie Groh, University Relations
Photography by Martin W. Kane, University Relations
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