Interview with International Relations Alumni, Anthony Formica
By Nikki Jennings
17 May 2021
Anthony Formica graduated in May 2020 with a degree in International Relations. He spent his undergrad studying at multiple Webster campuses including Geneva, Thailand and Leiden. Anthony currently works as implementation coordinator at Americans for Prosperity in Washington, DC. In this interview, he shares insight into his experience at the Leiden campus, discusses his current work, and talks about how his cross-cultural experience has prepared him for an international career.
Nikki: What kind of work do you do since graduating from Webster?
Anthony: I’m working on the data side of grassroots lobbying. I am an Implementation Coordinator at an organization called Americans for Prosperity. I build various surveys and look at spreadsheets to gather data about politics and determine the best people for our volunteers to reach out and talk to.
At Americans for Prosperity, we pressure lawmakers and help people gain information about different programs in the United States. We break down barriers and help people reach self-actualization to access their full potential. We do this by helping them figure out the principles of entrepreneurship or how to take control of their passions, for example.
Nikki: In what ways do you feel studying at Webster has prepared you for this career?
Anthony: I would say Webster shaped a lot of the best practices that we do and is the reason I am interested in a lot of things that we do at Americans for Prosperity. The classes at Webster give you freedom with a lot of the assigned projects. Professors will give you open ended projects where they basically say, “you can do a paper on whatever you want.” That really helped me build my own work, which showed something different to employers when I was applying for jobs. I think that was really valuable.
Nikki: How was your experience studying and working abroad in so many different countries?
Anthony: I enjoyed it. Each campus is unique in its own way. You learn a lot from the professors, having professors from a ton of different backgrounds and cultures. You get a lot of cultural experience and have the ability to work with different people.
Working on papers with people was always a learning experience. One time I worked on a paper one of my friends who was Singaporean. Halfway through writing the paper, we realized we were spelling some words differently. For example, with the word color. He was spelling it ‘color’ while I spelled it as ‘colour’. Once we realized, we were like alright, we've got to standardize this.
Nikki: That’s a great example of how we can learn from working with other students from all over the world. What was your experience like at the Leiden campus?
Anthony: The things I like the most about Webster is that you have a ton of freedom to choose your own classes. And the campus was great because it was located right in the middle of the city.
Lisa Foss was my favorite member of the staff. She was always there to answer my questions. Some of my favorite professors were Marije Balt and Jelle de Boer. Marije is incredibly knowledgeable and really good at explaining topics. Jelle is awesome too, he teaches ethics and is also a math class professor. He's also explains stuff really well.
Nikki: Is there anything you want to tell students who are interested in joining the Webster community?
Anthony: One thing I enjoyed about Webster was the unique freedom in scheduling my classes. For two or three years, I made my schedule so I was free on Mondays and Fridays. This way I could travel both those days. I think the coolest thing for prospective students thinking about Webster is the ability to travel, an ability that people from other universities just don’t have the chance to.
Nikki: What was your favorite spot or place in Leiden, and why?
Anthony: I really enjoyed the student associations in Leiden. VSL Catena was my favorite place. They have awesome open nights. The other student association I really like is SSR. They have live music. But I don’t know when they will be open next because of Covid. As far as restaurants, Einstein's was probably my favorite. And the Duke is great.
In Times of Isolation and Hope (2020), Alumni Winner, Image by Anthony Formica
Nikki: Last year, WebsterCanal hosted a photo contest called “In Times of Isolation and Hope”. You were the alumni entry winner– congratulations! What was your process in capturing the image?
Anthony: I took the photo when I first moved to DC, walking around on a street they had blocked off in front of the Whitehouse– Florida Ave & 6th Street. It shows the resiliency and strength of the city fighting against a global pandemic and racial inequality. It was cool to see all of the art and all of the murals, especially since the art was connected with Covid-19.
Check out the links below to see more of Anthony and his work.
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unamericainerrant/
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyformica/
– Americans for Prosperity: https://americansforprosperity.org/about/