Kristy Gonzalez
Students' military service brings valued perspective to Princeton SPIA classrooms
Students at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs bring a range of experiences to the classroom, perhaps none more so than the military service members who attend Princeton SPIA.
Their practical experience often illuminates policy discussions and adds nuance to conversations about the world’s most pressing problems, said Jacob N. Shapiro, a professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Empirical Studies of Conflict project. In turn, the students say their time at Princeton SPIA helps them think more broadly about the U.S. military’s challenges and how to tackle them more holistically.
“In most places around the world, the U.S. military is the largest element of the U.S. government in terms of personnel and resources. Having the opportunities for our students to interact with people from across the military improves their understanding of how U.S. policy gets implemented,” Shapiro said. For the military students, "learning from emerging leaders in other policy areas is going to make them more effective as they move into leadership positions where they engage with many different civilian agencies.”
Here, four Princeton SPIA students with military experience share their thoughts on their service and on how their time on campus will enhance their careers of service:
Kristy Gonzalez, Class of 2025
Kristy Gonzalez was born in New York City and grew up in the Dominican Republic before returning to the U.S. as a Miami Dade College student. She was attending Miami Dade, majoring in criminal justice, when she met a recruiter on campus and joined the Marine Corps Reserve. It felt like an instant fit.
“My dad had passed three years before, and he was in the Dominican Marine Corps. I think some part of that stayed with me, and I was very grateful to be in the country,” said Gonzalez.
She is a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps who works as a parachute rigger and commutes to Florida regularly to attend training.
Gonzalez applied to Princeton after a relative suggested she look at schools aligned with her long-term goals. Gonzalez said Princeton SPIA was appealing because it fits her public service mission, “a sense of helping the world to work the right way for the right reasons and the right people,” she said. “The military gives you a broad perspective of how the world works and how people make decisions.”
Being at Princeton SPIA has deepened that understanding for Gonzalez, not just in the classrooms but through a memorable task force trip to Uruguay. On campus, she has corresponded with Gen. Mark Milley, the retired 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is a Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and visiting lecturer at Princeton SPIA. “I never thought that I would email someone who was once the highest-ranking military person in the country,” she said.
Gonzalez has had a variety of experiences since coming to Princeton, including internships with the New York Times Company and Boston Consulting Group. Her senior thesis is on sexual assault prosecutions in the U.S. military, and her ultimate goal is to have a tangible impact on the Department of Defense.
Her goal is to become a sergeant.
“I’ve met a lot of really smart, capable people in the military who, when they hear ‘Princeton,’ think of something so outside their possibilities,” she said. “I try to tell them that this is attainable. They have the resources, ability, and intelligence for it by default.”
Austen Boroff, Ph.D. candidate
Austen Boroff
When Major Austen Boroff first joined the U.S. Army, field artillery officer positions were not open to women. After commissioning as a field artillery officer from West Point in 2014, she went on to become one of the first female platoon leaders and deployed to Iraq twice.
“It was definitely challenging but also rewarding to be in that cohort, as you’re trying to replicate the leadership style of male officers who were phenomenal, but that style was not authentic for me,” Boroff said.
Later, in Washington state, she commanded a long-range hypersonic weapons battery. That experience led her to Princeton SPIA, where she is a General Wayne A. Downing Scholar pursuing a doctorate to deepen her understanding of policy as it relates to military innovation and acquisitions.
Although Boroff came to Princeton SPIA for the policy education, a welcome additional benefit has been the opportunity to learn from female leaders and scholars at the school and absorb new styles of leadership, including from one of her advisors, Janet Vertesi, an associate professor of sociology.
Being at Princeton “has offered invaluable lessons in collaborative and engaged leadership,” she said. “The University provides an unparalleled opportunity to engage with a diverse and dynamic community of professionals.”
She and another military student participated in independent study with Christopher F. Chyba, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor in International Affairs and professor of astrophysical sciences.
“We’ve had the privilege of interaction and mentorship from an expert in the field of emerging technologies and strategic stability,” she said. “That kind of access and support is extraordinary.”
Boroff, a Chatham native, has also enjoyed visiting her parents on Sundays while in New Jersey. She will move to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas this summer and continue work on her dissertation.
“Princeton SPIA has widened my aperture,” she said. “My experiences in the military were very tactically and operationally focused. It’s insightful to step back and examine the grand strategic picture and tools of statecraft beyond military applications.”
Joshua Peters, MPP '25
Joshua Peters
Army Major Joshua Peters was 14 when he was adopted from an orphanage in Latvia by an American family. Together, they went on mission trips to orphanages and underprivileged communities in Europe.
“Out of that gracious act, a heart of service was born in me,” Peters said. “They demonstrated what it is to be a family, what it means to serve.”
While at Florida State University, Peters joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). He was commissioned as an infantry officer and deployed to Europe several times before transitioning to the U.S. Army Special Forces. Most recently, he served as a foreign area officer in the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.
It was that last experience that led Peters to Princeton SPIA. He observed military diplomats advising the National Security Council and sought to learn the kind of analysis and critical thinking they were applying. He had a choice of programs to attend and chose Princeton after speaking with alumni and learning about Princeton SPIA’s small cohorts and policy focus.
The most valuable part of the experience so far has been the connections he has made with his Master in Public Policy (MPP) peers. That began in summer, when MPP students take classes in economics, statistics, and leadership seminars to prepare for graduate-level coursework.
“It started with the summer program. It allowed us to destroy the walls that you have built as a professional coming into such a prestigious university,” he said. “It feels like a family.”
Peters said he has learned so much in class and through informal settings with his peers, including MPP forums.
“I can feel my brain changing,” he said. “If you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I don’t want to think about problems only from a military perspective. Princeton is helping me have a political and policy perspective, an economic perspective and a human perspective.”
After completing the program, Peters will work as the deputy director for security cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania, and he is looking forward to putting his skills to work.
“People think the military is just holding guns and shooting bullets,” he said. “More often than not, you end up having engagements with host-nation militaries on a people-to-people level, where you’re sharing experiences.”
Caroline Miller, MPP '25
Caroline Miller
An active-duty U.S. Coast Guard officer, Lieutenant Caroline Miller brings a host of global experiences to her time at Princeton SPIA. She has worked on counternarcotics operations in the eastern Pacific, environmental protection and mass casualty response in Southern California and strategic missions in Bahrain.
She was stationed in the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, and it became a formative experience.
“I saw a lot of the nuances of a very complex situation,” Miller said. While stationed in Bahrain, she applied for the Coast Guard’s Public Policy Program and got into Princeton.
Because Miller attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for her undergraduate studies, experiencing the collegial atmosphere of Princeton — a town she occasionally visited growing up in New Jersey — has been part of the fun of being in the program. She and her other MPP colleagues spend hours together every day in classes, lectures, and events.
“What I really appreciate about Princeton that I didn’t fully understand at the time I was applying is how the small cohort really allows you to create this great bond together,” she said. “We all push each other to really be better and to think differently about issues.”
Miller said her military experiences offer a different perspective in the classroom, since she often has real-life exposure to the challenges being discussed, whether it’s national security, the environment or technology.
After graduation, Miller will be assigned to a policy-related role for the Coast Guard.
“Part of the value of me doing this program is that five, 10 years from now, I’ll be able to take the lessons I’ve learned here, the connections, and the way of thinking, and be able to apply them,” she said.