Class of 2020 First-Year Fellow: Andrew Xiang '20

Andrew Xiang '20 comes from San Antonio, Texas and graduated from Reagan High School as a National Merit Scholar. At Reagan, Andrew was the class president, captain of the debate team, and an all-state musician. Andrew was also an AAU basketball player, youth basketball coach, and officer with the Math Honor Society.

At Dartmouth, Andrew plans to pursue a double major in Government and Economics, with a minor in public policy. He is also a member of the Dartmouth Forensics Union and qualified for the National Debate Championship as a freshman.

As a First-Year Fellow, Andrew interned at the National Disability Institute under the mentorship of Director Michael Morris. He went to Capitol Hill for regular briefings on the status of healthcare legislation, partook in conference calls and policy meetings about advocacy strategy, and summarized the relevant points from these briefings, meetings, and other events into reports.

According to Andrew, his “favorite part of the fellowship at the National Disability Institute was when I went with my supervisor to Virginia to create an informational video on ABLE accounts.” This experience was also one of the most rewarding. “We were interviewing the parent of a self-advocate who was critical in the passage of the ABLE Act, and hearing her words reminded me once again how important it is that there are people and organizations in this world fighting for important causes like ours.” The amendments to the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act aimed at enhancing the benefits through rollover savings in a 529 college savings plan into an ABLE account, raising the age limit for ABLE accounts to 46, and allowing individuals and their families to save more money in an ABLE account if the beneficiary works and earns income. 

After graduation, Andrew plans to attend law school and pursue a career in environmental law.