Research can feel unrewarding for it is an incredibly slow and difficult process. Receiving honors like the Astronaut Scholarship provides justification for my research efforts; others see that I am willing to endure the process in order to discover and create. But this feeling of justification soon turns into inspiration. Because others believe in me, I now have a duty to maintain a caliber of research that is worth believing in.

While I didn’t receive the Marshall Scholarship, during the application process I passed the exams to enter the U.S. Foreign Service as a diplomat. That was my goal all along, and I think the fellowship preparation I did with UFO provided me with skills that helped me achieve it.

With the volume of opportunities available at Penn State, I now realize the importance of tailoring my academic career/experiences to accommodate my exact ambitions and career goals. Students have a wide range of freedom to take advantage of those opportunities whether that be through selection of majors, courses, campus involvement, extracurricular activities, professional networking, etc.

I care about politics because I care about people. Not all of society’s problems can be solved by having the right leaders in place or by passing the right legislation, but many can. Politics is really personal.

The semester in Paris was way outside my comfort zone, but it gave me the confidence to pursue whatever opportunities become available in any corner of the world. I plan to apply for everything I can and see what doors open up.

Studying psychology already holds extra incentive for me with my Christian faith and the Navajo teachings of Hózhó (reverence for the beauty in everything on earth), which have taught me the value of human connectedness, spreading hope and finding meaning in life.