Israel Nelson - Student Ambassador

3L | Gastonia, North Carolina | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

israelnelson@ku.edu | She/Her

Hey y’all! I’m Israel. I grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, and I earned my B.A. in global studies (international politics concentration) and German language in culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Travel, foreign languages and other cultures are super important to me! Prior to college, I took a gap year with Global Citizen Year where I volunteered with a reforestation NGO called Trees for the Future in Kédougou, Sénégal. I also had the pleasure of studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, where I was able to study international politics and complete a research project at the UN! All my experiences abroad led me to believe I may want to attend law school, but when I graduated college, I wasn’t quite sure if I was ready yet or if it was the right decision for me.  

After college, I moved to Lawrence and worked as a nanny to the most wonderful little girl for several years and then as a paralegal. I realized while working as a paralegal that I genuinely did enjoy the legal profession, and I definitely did want to take all the interesting skillsets I’d acquired over the last few years back to school and see where it led me. 

When I first visited KU, I truly felt like I was joining a friendly and diverse community that was invested not only in the academic success of its students, but also a community that was interested in the connections everyone could make with each other. I’ve only been here a semester so far, but the connections I’ve made I can already tell are going to last me a lifetime! 

If you have any questions about being a non-traditional student or just have questions about what it’s like on campus, please feel free to reach out, I’d be happy to chat with you. I hope to see you on campus soon!