A Full Circle Moment
“It feels surreal,” says Enkhtaivan, who goes by Nara to her American friends. In Mongolia, Enkhtaivan would refer to Nara’a father. “It’s such a full circle moment. Inside I’m still that 18-year-old girl who just got accepted to Swarthmore.”
Nara is the first Mongolian student from a public high school ever to be accepted into Harvard. She chose Swarthmore instead, drawn by its Educational Studies Department. She grew up in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, and lives there today.
“We call it UB for short,” she says.
She was raised by a single mother and mostly attended underfunded public schools. By age 13, she’d noticed the huge disparities in Mongolian education. Since her school didn’t teach English, Nara joined an after-school Mongolian 4-H club. The club offered free English classes taught by Peace Corps volunteers.
Education became her passion. “I wanted to be the person who would fix the Mongolian education system,” she says. “I wanted to focus on the policy system itself and contribute to my country.”
Mongolian universities offered teacher training, but not educational policy programs, so she looked abroad. Swarthmore was a natural fit. Studying with Lisa Smulyan ’76, Henry C. and Charlotte Turner Professor Emerita of Educational Studies, and others, she quickly realized that the U.S. education system had its own challenges. “Swarthmore showed me the reality,” she says. “But it also gave me tools and skills.”
Despite growing up in Ulaanbaatar, where temperatures regularly plunge below zero, her first Pennsylvania winter was still a shock.
“I’m from UB! It’s the coldest capital in the world,” says Nara, who didn’t pack a winter coat her first year. “The United States of America sounded warm to me. It was super surprising.” Luckily, Assistant Dean and Director of International Student Programs Jennifer Marks-Gold had a supply of warm jackets.
Today Nara works at the Zorig Foundation, a nonprofit named after Mongolian democracy leader Sanjaasürengiin Zorig, who led Mongolia in a peaceful transition from communism to democracy in the 1990s. He was assassinated at age 35 in 1998. The Zorig Foundation continues his life’s work, with a focus on social action, youth leadership, and democracy.
Nara leads the Zorig Foundation’s Young Scholars Program, as well as the Young Leadership and Women’s Leadership programs.
“Women historically in Mongolia had power,” says Nara. “Even in the 13th century they could own land or lead an army.”
The Australian government traced what happened to scholarship recipients who pursued advanced study at Australian universities. Even though Mongolian women received more than 70% of the graduate degree scholarships, it was men who advanced their careers in leadership roles. Nara’s program aims to promote gender equity in leadership.
The youth leadership program offers mentorship and training for Mongolians under age 25, especially rural students from underprivileged backgrounds.
One focus is the Ger district in UB. Climate change-driven weather changes are making it increasingly difficult to sustain a nomadic lifestyle, so rural families are settling on the city outskirts, bringing their children and ger (yurts) with them.
“During winter we have very harsh blizzards,” explains Nara. Mongolia has episodes of extreme weather called dzud. Temperatures drop below -20 degrees F with heavy snow and ice, making it impossible for livestock to graze. “We’re getting more dzud. The dzud are getting worse and worse. My friend’s family lost hundreds of livestock in just one blizzard.”
Mongolian herders depend on five main livestock animals: sheep, goats, horses, cows, and camels. Southern Mongolia relies more on camels. The northern part of the country raises more sheep and cows.
One third of Mongolians are herders. Nomadic life makes formal education hard. K-9 education is mandatory, so families typically leave their school-age children at boarding schools. That system is being disrupted by climate change hardships.
“I’m in education, but I see the connections,” says Nara. “Students are dislocated because of climate change.”
Nara has added climate activism to her list of projects, leading trainings with Climate Reality. She also lends her skills to Gobischolars, founded by fellow Mongolian Swattie Jack Bayar ’26. Gobischolars help low-income Mongolian students with free college application advising.
“I love working with high schoolers,” says Nara. “And I love to paint and dance the tango when I have time.”