Unconventional students at Rice 2021: Nia Prince wants to impact the world

Prince's Family

Nia Prince ’21 had an idea of what she wanted out of her Rice education, but really didn’t know how to get there.

“I actually came into Rice interested in political science, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it,” she said. “I felt like I was called to change and impact one day, but I didn't know how.”

It was early on that Prince found the route to making an impact.

“I learned about the social policy analysis major, and that major, I felt like it gave me the opportunity to learn how to do a policy analysis and also compare and contrast and see what's effective and what's not effective,” she said. “And then I found sociology by accident and I absolutely fell in love with it.”

The double major credits experiential learning and being involved in student government with helping her see what impact looks like. She’s held a congressional internship, worked on campaigns and with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

Prince said, “I would be sitting in my internship and really felt fulfilled. And I was actually kind of learning how to apply what I learned in the classroom outside of Rice.”

Post-graduation, she says she’s ready for the next step.

“I'm planning to go to law school to kind of help further what I've learned so far about policy and law and how those intertwine,” she said. “And I'm really hoping that at least over the next three years in law school I can learn how to more effectively respond to challenges and problems and a community, and understanding how laws can actually enforce the change.”

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