ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Andrew “Ash” Harris, ‘14

Ash Harris

Ash Harris, IA ’14, is serving as the global security analyst for the Global Security Operations Center at Samaritan’s Purse in Boone, N. C.

Newsletter assistant Sara Stubbs interviewed Ash.

Q: Why did you choose to seek an international-affairs degree?

A: Ever since I started working a regular job at 15, I knew that I wanted something more than a normal 9-5 job in a typical office setting. When I came to North Georgia College & State University, a Frog Week counselor told me about the international-affairs degree path. I had signed a contract with the Army Reserve about a week prior to that and the degree aligned perfectly with my passion.

Q. What is your current position and what duties are required of you? Can you include a description of your organization?

A. I am currently a global security analyst for the Global Security Operations Center at Samaritan’s Purse. We are an evangelical, international humanitarian-aid organization. My duties include identifying both short- and long-term threats to our teams in the field and studying and analyzing current events, history, geopolitics, and a variety of open source and paid data; monitoring multiple GPS platforms that track our teams in both safe and volatile areas; monitoring a critical incident phone in the event of an emergency from our staff in the field; calming the chaos of the event and navigate staff through the emergency; and producing analyses and map products for all departments within SP.

Q. How did your coursework in international affairs prepare you for your current position?

A. My coursework in IA was very research-heavy and it forced me to exercise my critical-thinking ability. On any given shift, we are bombarded by a plethora of information. Some of it is relevant, but the vast majority of it is not. My coursework taught me to sift through the unreliable, or irrelevant, information to find the information that benefits my department and our organization.

Additionally, many of the papers I wrote as a student helped me to see issues from a variety of perspectives. Ultimately, it helped me to judge occurrences objectively. The ability to judge something objectively, without interjecting personal or outside biases or opinions into an occurrence, allows for proper analysis. My coursework taught me that I knew very little about everything and it was my job to find the facts.

Q. What experiences from the international-affairs program were most meaningful to your career?

A. Study abroad and the internship. I’ve learned over the years that I prefer to be hands-on. The study- abroad experience and the internship gave me the opportunity to put what I was learning into action in real-world situations.

Q. If you had to provide a blurb about your courses, the faculty, and the major, what would you say?

A. I believe that the course of study and the faculty in the IA program at UNG prepared me more for the world today than any other degree would have done. My instructors taught me to think outside of the box, to never take what I see at face value, and that there is always more to learn. Lastly, it increased my humility a thousandfold and reminded me that the world has never, and will never, revolve around me.