Student Spotlight: Kody Christiansen '23

Kody Christiansen is a Harvard Extension School undergraduate student and Graduate Student of Arts and Sciences special student in the Class of 2023. He has been on the Radcliffe Student Advisory Board (SAB) since fall 2020.

Christiansen first joined the SAB during the COVID-19 pandemic. After spending a lot of time at home, he was looking for a way to connect to a community—and found it in the SAB. For Christiansen, “the SAB became a family of friends who uplifted and supported each other through unpredictable times.”

According to Christiansen, there is no other program at Harvard quite like Harvard Radcliffe Institute (HRI). “At HRI, students from different Harvard schools and across an array of disciplines work together to create meaningful initiatives that not only make the school but the world at large better,” he says. “HRI is for big thinkers, avid dreamers, and those who are ready to work to make positive change.”

“The best part about being an SAB member at Harvard Radcliffe Institute is the connections I have made with so many brilliant students from across the University,” says Christiansen. “Where else can an extension student, a College student, a law student, and a medical student sit together and discuss ways to improve the lives of our fellow classmates and brainstorm on how to use our multifaceted areas of expertise to create innovations that impact the world around us? We are student leaders on a mission.”

Sam Zuniga-Levy is the communications coordinator at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.