The School of Education’s Selected Studies in Education (SSE) major allows undergraduates to explore careers beyond the classroom.

Its five focus areas—in technology and media, schooling and diversity, physical activity, post-secondary and human services, or pre-teaching—prepare students for any career with a learning, training, service, or advocacy component, including coaching, counseling, higher education, instructional design, law, and library science.
Another path for SSE graduates is policy, politics, and nonprofit and international development work, which has been the outcome for two SSE alumni in particular.
Victor Yang ’16 is currently Chief Government Affairs Officer for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), having also worked in Congress, in the Biden Administration, and for various political campaigns. Angela Woods ’05 has worked for the Department of State (DOS) and, most recently, the Nakupuna Companies, a sub-contractor for the US Bureau of Global Health, Security, and Diplomacy. In December 2024, she returns to DOS as the Director of Operations of the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy.
Yang’s and Woods’ careers illustrate how an SSE degree can provide in-demand skills and practical experiences—not to mention a spirit of exploration. Both alums are happy to pass along a few of the lessons learned from their journeys.
Lesson 1: It’s OK if classroom teaching isn’t for you—SSE lets you explore service careers beyond the classroom.
“I’ve traveled to countries I had never heard of, and I’ve done things I thought I’d never be able to do.”
Angela Woods ’05
Both Yang and Woods set out to be classroom teachers, driven by early experiences. Yang, the son of immigrants, grew up in Boston’s Chinatown. As a young person, he worked as a legislative intern for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and at the American Chinese Christian Educational and Social Services (ACCESS), where he ran an after-school program to help Chinese immigrants navigate the educational system.
As an elementary education undergraduate, Yang had an early placement at a childcare center, which gave him real world experience of the education system and challenged him “to think more about education policy, especially as this was during the implementation of No Child Left Behind.”
Yang’s interest in policy grew to the point he decided to transition to SSE in his junior year. Students often combine SSE with another major, and Yang also enrolled in English and Textual Studies: “I thought that honing my writing skills would help my job search.”
Originally from Florida, Woods was inspired to apply to SOE by her high school guidance counselor, an Orange alum. Like Yang, Woods began in elementary education. “One of the great things about SOE is that you get started early with classroom experience,” explains Woods, “and by my sophomore year I had done both tutoring and classroom instruction.”
Although Woods eventually realized classroom teaching wasn’t for her, she wanted to stay in the education field, especially when she learned about careers in higher education. SSE’s flexibility also was attractive. “I could create my own path based on my interests,” she says.
Some of Woods’ interests lay in student development. Enrolled in the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program (part of SOE’s Center for Academic Achievement and Student Development), she interned for CAASD’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) during the summer. Selected Studies also gave her the opportunity to study abroad in Spain, where she worked with the US-Spain Fulbright Commission in Madrid: “That opened my interest to international education and work in government.”
Lesson 2: When starting your career, networking works!

After graduating with his SSE and English degrees in 2016 , Yang returned to ACCESS as a program coordinator, and like many freshly minted graduates, he made ends meet with a side gig driving for Uber.
But just as Yang took a chance on switching his majors, so he did with his career. A friend working in software engineering in the Capital Region persuaded him to give government service “a shot”. “So I moved to DC and went to networking events and started interning on Capitol Hill, answering phones and giving tours,” explains Yang. These efforts eventually led to an entry level position as a Health and Appropriations Legislative Assistant in the US House of Representatives.
Networking works, at least in Yang’s case: “If you can get your foot in the door, it’s totally worth it, but if you don’t succeed, it might mean it’s not the right timing.” The path to government work is often circumstantial, and Yang suggests anyone looking for this type of career should not be discouraged if it doesn’t work out initially.
Lesson 3: Diversify your experiences—you never know what will come in useful.
Woods discovered one way to give herself the best chance of success in public service was to diversify her experiences and keep options open.
After graduating, she continued on her path to a higher education career, taking a master’s degree at the University of Maryland, College Park. Like Yang, Woods then returned to an earlier experience—at CSTEP (“I really enjoyed working with the students”)—but the Florida native confesses that Syracuse’s notorious winters discouraged her from settling.
Besides, her next move was a perfect fit for her combined background in higher education, student development, and government programs. At The Washington Center, Woods managed academic internships for the US Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies.
In 2012, her internship abroad with the US-Spain Fulbright Commission proved useful, helping to land her job in DOS, where she assisted in managing the Critical Language Scholarship Program and eventually—from 2019 to 2023—the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ TechWomen program, which empowers women leaders in STEM from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.
“I never imagined as an education graduate I would end up working for DOS,” Woods says. “I thought the only federal agency that would be open to my background was the Department of Education.”
Lesson 4: An education background gives you an edge—and it can always come in handy!
“If you can get your foot in the door, [networking is] totally worth it, but if you don’t succeed, it might mean it’s not the right timing.”
Victor Yang ’16
In addition to her Madrid experience, Woods recalls that her understanding of diversity made her competitive at DOS.
“A big part of the education field is having respect for diversity” and Woods found that knowing how to work with diverse groups was important to her employers, especially given her roles managing international programs and collaborating with colleagues from other nations, especially in Africa.
Yang says as a legislative assistant, his education background helped him address climate policy for the Office of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and other legislators. Plus, when history buff Yang was asked to give tours, “class management techniques I learned helped, especially with school groups—that’s when I used engagement techniques.”
But Yang cautions that policy work can be cyclical, “so many in this industry have a second career they can fall back on when an administration changes, budgets tighten, or there’s a freeze on hiring.”
Yang adds, “I always thought, if the going got rough, I could always find a job in education.”
After his US House of Representatives experience ended, Yang consulted with non-profits and political campaigns—including the 2020 Biden-Harris Campaign—before he joined the Biden Administration as an assistant in the Office of the US Trade Representative.
Today, Yang’s position at NAPCA “takes all my skills and applies them to advocating for older adults, educating lawmakers on issues of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander aging.”
“My SOE experiences always have played into my professional career,” continues Yang. “In my current job, if I want to teach about a certain issue or inform people, I know how to be engaging and informative to get the message through.”
For instance, when informing about sometimes dry and complex issues such as vaccination, Medicare scams, or insulin price caps, Yang says he will turn to songs and sayings to get people engaged, or he will create fact sheets and offer webinars “to help people retain information—just like a teacher would.”
Lesson 5: Always keep your drive and sense of adventure.
“Selected Studies in Education gave me a drive for success and it taught me to set my own path to where I want to get to,” says Woods. “I took advantage of opportunities as they arose, such as fellowships and conferences, whether or not I knew if they would help my career.”
“I have the same attitude working for the federal government,” Woods adds, noting that government work is diverse and can itself open up many different kinds of careers. “I’ve pursued different opportunities in government, learning about other types of programs and offices along the way. My broad degree and broad experience have helped me navigate my career and not be pigeon-holed.”
Woods’ adventurous attitude—begun as an education student—has paid dividends: “I’ve traveled to countries I had never heard of, and I’ve done things I thought I’d never be able to do.”
Sadie Keefe ’26 (English Education) contributed to this article.