Service Examples
Service with the U.S. Department of State - US Mission to the United Nations
A freshman from St. Johns University spent a year studying Japanese at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. At Sophia University, he was able to enroll in Japanese reading and writing courses, as well as micro and macro economics courses that fulfilled his core requirement at his home university. By living with a host family, the Boren Scholar was able to practice Japanese every night over dinner and learn the intricacies of Japanese culture. Through these daily conversations with his host family and discussions with Japanese friends, he was able to delve into U.S-Japanese cultural differences.
While pursuing a master's in economics from the New School University in New York, the alumnus landed an internship with the Department of State at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He saw this experience as "a natural extension of [his] study abroad experience." The internship provided him the opportunity to examine the international community's reaction to the United States, adding to the insight he gained in Japan. His duties as an intern varied, but he was able to attend and report on various debates in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. When political section staff were unable to attend Security Council consultations, the alumnus provided daily reports, so that the staff could be kept up to speed. He accompanied the U.S. ambassador on calls on two East Asian permanent representatives and wrote up very detailed accounts that were forwarded to Washington, DC.
The internship with the U.S. Mission to the UN enhanced the Boren Alumnus's desire to work with the Department of State and more specifically increased his desire to become a Foreign Service Officer. The summer following this internship, he applied and was accepted for an internship in the political/economic section at the U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo, Japan.
As a political/economic intern, he wrote reports on regional topics in Hokkaido. In the course of his research, he conversed with local officials on topics such as the value of whaling in the region and the construction of the Hokkaido Bullet Train. He also worked closely with the Consul General and even gave opening greetings at events in his absence.
Through both internships and his study abroad experience at Sophia University, the alumnus has gained valuable knowledge about Japanese people, culture, and economy. The international relationships he has created will prove useful in his future in public service.
Service at the Department of State - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
An international politics and Spanish language and literature major from St. Peter’s College spent his senior year conducting an independent project on human rights in Chile with the School for International Training (SIT). His independent research project included increasing his knowledge of the political, economic, and social conditions of human rights violation in Chile.
Upon return from Chile, the alumnus obtained an internship with the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which is in the Department of State’s Office of Country Reports and Asylum Affairs. The NSEP Alumnus’s major duties included working on the International Religious Freedom Report (IRF). The IRF describes the state of religious freedom in 195 countries and is mandated by and presented to the U.S. Congress. While at the bureau, the alumnus also reviewed political asylum cases, looking for discrepancies in the facts of the requests. He was in contact with various embassies in order to verify and obtain accurate information.
Through the knowledge gained on his Boren Scholarship, the alumnus obtained a solid background in human rights issues. He was then able to use this experience to gain an internship in the Department of State. As a result, the alumnus is now able to work and continue learning about a field of much interest to him.
Service with the Department of State - US Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria
A study abroad program in Macedonia during her sophomore year at Arizona State University gave this NSEP Boren Alumna the opportunity to learn about Macedonian culture and language. It also gave her a chance to become familiar with the Balkans.
This alumna’s study abroad experience came in handy when she secured an internship working at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. While working in the political/economic section of the embassy, she was responsible for covering issues such as human rights, minorities, religious freedom, and various political parties.
Within the scope of her general duties, the alumna performed more specific tasks such as analyzing a new draft law on religion and discussing its key points, flaws, and concerns with members of the State Department and the Bulgarian Parliament. Further, she compared drafts of the Bulgaria chapter of the State Department’s 2001 Report to Congress on Religious Freedom to ensure that the Embassy’s views were accurately reflected. In relation to minority issues, this alumna drafted a report on the Karakachani population, which is often referred to as Bulgarian’s “forgotten minority.” Other reports for the State Department include one that the alumna wrote on the case of six Bulgarian medical personnel who were being tried for murder in Libya and the Bulgarian reaction to the case.
Through the alumna’s study abroad in Macedonia, she gained a firm background in the Macedonian language. The close structural similarities between Bulgarian and Macedonian, and the alumna’s familiarity with the region, provided her with the experience to exceed at her internship.
Service at the Department of Defense - Naval Medical Research Unit in Cairo
A junior Middle East Asia studies major from Brown University received a Boren Scholarship to study Arabic at the American University in Cairo for a year in 2003. Having interests in medicine and health care, the alumna was able to take a biology class along with her cultural, political, and linguistic classes.
During the summer following her NSEP-funded program, the alumna began fulfilling her service obligation by working as an intern at the Department of Defense at the U.S. Navy’s Medical Research Unit in Cairo, Egypt. The Naval Medical Research Unit is devoted to researching epidemiology and infectious diseases prevalent in parts of Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Her unit collaborated with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. As a lab technician intern, the alumna performed duties such as biochemical testing, bacterial culturing, and antibiotic sensitivity testing, using patient samples.
NSEP allowed the alumna to have the opportunity to study in Cairo, where she was able take classes of interest to her and gain new perspectives. She secured her internship by expressing this interest with one of her Egyptian biology professors. Throughout her internship with the Department of Defense, the alumna worked beside American and Egyptian doctors. As a result, she improved her colloquial Egyptian Arabic and improved her technical Arabic, all while obtaining work experience in a government medical setting.
Service at the Department of Defense - Drug Enforcement Policy and Support Agency
An NSEP Alumnus spent the summer after his junior year working the Department of Defense’s Drug Enforcement Policy and Support agency as a translation intern. He secured this position after spending the fall semester of his junior year in Chile on a Universities in Santiago program sponsored by the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. This Bowdoin College student progressed to advanced mid proficiency in Spanish and his advanced language ability helped him to obtain an internship.
His duties included helping to prepare speeches for Spanish speaking diplomats and translating documents from English to Spanish for bilateral working groups. He also had the opportunity to attend conferences concerning U.S. policy towards Latin America.
This internship between his junior and senior years of college gave him an idea of what future work with the federal government would be like. It also showed him that interns with valuable skills could be assigned responsibilities of great importance.
Service with the Department of Defense - National Defense University, International Student Management Office
A junior from the University of California, Irvine advanced her Mandarin and furthered her interests in U.S.-China relations on an Institute for the International Education of Students program in Beijing, China. This international exposure gave the 2001 Boren Scholar the skills needed to relate to people of different backgrounds and experiences. Her cultural understanding made her a perfect match for a job working with foreign officers as a member of National Defense University.
Within the National Defense University, this program alumna was assigned to the International Student Management Office as a counter terrorism fellows (CTF) program specialist. The main duty of her job was to assist counter terrorism fellow foreign officers from 60 different countries. These officers are chosen by the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict. The rank of these officers ranged from field grade to general/flag officer. Though her duties are broad in scope, the alumna summarizes them simply as an “assistant action officer responsible for planning, coordinating and executing the CTF program.” In addition to helping these officers plan trips around the country, she also helped foreign officers familiarize themselves with American society, politics, and economy.
Though the alumna worked within the United States, the skills and exposure she gained during her study abroad program to China were helpful in relating to the foreign officers arriving in the United States from abroad. Understanding diversity and cultural differences has helped this Boren alumna bring cultural understanding and sensitivity to her job as a representative of one of the most prominent U.S. government departments.
Service at the Department of Homeland Security - Bureau of Immigration in the Office of Chief Counsel
A 2001 sophomore political science major from the University of Rochester received a Boren Scholarship to study Portuguese with the School for International Training in Fortaleza, Brazil. The alumna studied Portuguese for three hours a day and lived in a home stay setting, which helped to increase her language proficiency to advanced low. The Boren Scholar was also able to conduct an independent study project in which she studied Brazilian land issues for four weeks.
In May 2003, the alumna secured an internship in the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration in the Office of Chief Counsel. Some of her duties included investigating long-term cases involving Latin American respondents and researching changing country conditions in nations experiencing political turmoil. Her office in St. Paul/Minneapolis handles cases from the Midwestern states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The alumna explains that the internship exposed her to “so many different facets of immigration law that I never knew existed. I never realized how interconnected foreign policy is with immigration law.”
Service with the Department of State - Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and US Embassy in Panama
A journalism major from New Mexico State University focused her language and cultural interest in the country of Colombia. This Boren Scholar eventually used her experience and talents to work both domestically with the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and internationally at the U.S. Embassy in Panama.
As an assistant program officer within the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the alumna worked for the Washington Foreign Press Center, an office that is responsible for serving more than 2,000 print and broadcast journalists who are either residents of or visitors to the United States. This office, as she explained, “offers live press briefings on American policy and society by U.S. government officials and nongovernmental experts.” Part of her duties as an intern included planning/organizing tours and program activities for visiting journalists. For example, one specific activity she organized involved leading African journalists around New York City on a journalism tour as a way for the journalists to learn more about Muslim life in America. Once the journalists returned home, she was responsible for monitoring “foreign news coverage to determine the effectiveness of reporting tours and press briefings in getting the U.S. message across to foreign audiences.”
Utilizing her experience and language skills in the United States was only the first step of this alumna’s involvement with the U.S. government. A research/writing internship with the U.S. Embassy in Panama, working specifically for the narcotics affairs section, gave her a chance to use her skills on a more international basis.
In Panama, she was responsible for organizing a number of training conferences for Panamanian law enforcement officials and cooperatives in Panama’s provinces, including one on stolen vehicles and another on money laundering. Even when her internship in Panama was over, this alumna left her mark in the form of a strategy report, in which she researched and wrote about Panama’s civil service laws and the ways in which foreign service officers can help Panama improve civil service.
This internship provided the alumna with an ideal situation in which to combine her journalism background with her advanced Spanish language skills. Additionally, the internship served to foster her interest in regional and comparatives studies.
This alumna’s opportunity to work for the U.S. government both domestically and internationally gave her a unique perspective on the infinite career possibilities that exist with the U.S. Department of State, a fact she will undoubtedly keep in mind for the future.
Service with the Department of Defense - National Defense University's Center for Technology and National Security Policy
A Principia College senior received an NSEP Boren Scholarship to study abroad in Brazil. This experience helped the scholar achieve his goal to “gain insight into the culture of Northeastern Brazil in order to better understand the class structures which have resulted in massive poverty.”
Following graduation, the scholar found a job at the National Defense University’s Center for Technology and National Security Policy, which is part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Within the Center, the alumnus began working as a management analyst/ research associate, where his basic duties involved supporting research fellows. He also assessed Department of Defense websites and made recommendations for DoD improvement in attracting “innovative industry contractors for ensuring DoD’s continued leadership in technological advantage.”
His focus on the future of the Department of Defense was extended to making recommendations regarding the National Defense Education Act and “the issue of ensuring a strong science and technology workforce for future DoD needs.” This alumnus also researched the future of warfare as it relates to the future of the Navy and the way warfare might evolve beyond a “networked military.”
In addition to making recommendations, the Boren alumnus was responsible for working on grant programs that solicit research on science, technology, and national security issues from the academic community. By assessing both the past and future of various issues of importance to the Department of Defense, this Boren alumnus was given a unique opportunity to perform and experience the numerous duties involved in securing a nation.