Student testimonials

Kelley Xuereb graduated in 2021 with a Bachelors in International Relations (Global Business) and a minor in Environmental Studies. Her spring 2020 internship was in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; that summer she completed another internship, this time for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One especially memorable part of her internship in the speaker’s office involved her work with a provision in a 2015 bill that pertained to Apache tribal land, including miles of sacred land, being sold to a mining company. Xuereb met with leaders and activists who wanted to stop the mining, gathered quantitative data on the bill’s impact on natural resources and wrote up a memorandum on the issue. “The ability to meaningfully contribute to such an urgent and important issue was extremely rewarding, and a reminder of how much work there is to do out there,” she said. Following graduation, Kelley has accepted a job with the EPA.

Kurtis Weatherford graduated in 2020 with a B.A. in International Relations and Economics, as well as a minor in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence. While in DC, he interned at the Department of State in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs where he conducted independent data-analysis projects focused on representation and great power strategy in the UN. He found it difficult to envision concrete career paths that matched his interests while studying in Los Angeles, but the DC semester gave him the invaluable opportunity to connect his classes with careers. Following his internship at State, he chose to stay in Washington and took an internship at the Atlantic Council’s Resilience Center where he helped develop policy frameworks through which nations and cities can respond to future risks associated with climate change, migration, and security. After graduation he plans to continue working on these issues while leveraging the potential of geospatial technology to address them.

Emily Rauch graduated in 2019 with a Bachelors in International Relations and Global Business, with an emphasis in global finance. During her time in Washington, she interned at The Cohen Group, a consulting firm lead by former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Her internship was the perfect combination of her two focuses, and she enjoyed learning from the government, regional, and industry experts at TCG. Emily spent the summer after the program interning at the Department of Commerce in the Global Markets Asia division. Upon graduation Emily will be traveling to Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar, where she will teach English through the English Teaching Assistant Program. After her year abroad, she will join Raytheon’s Global Trade Leadership Development Program. Emily found the DC Program extremely valuable; the people she met there, including her colleagues and professors, were instrumental in her successful Fulbright application. Emily believes the Dornsife D.C. program is a must for any student who wants to work in D.C. after graduation.

Danya graduated in 2018 with a Bachelors in Political Science. During her time in DC, she interned for a political consulting firm, Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, which became a stepping stone for future internships, her first job out of college as a campaign manager, and her current position on Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign as a Press Assistant in Iowa. Danya says the DC Dornsife is a program like no other at USC, giving students the opportunity to pursue their interests, alongside a group of diverse, like-minded peers, in one of the most politically exciting places in the country. “I especially valued the experience of taking concepts and theories talked about in the classroom to my internship and conversations every day.”

Nika pursued a B.A. in International Relations and a B.S. in Planning, Policy and Development later graduating in 2017. She worked for the Department of State in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs while in Washington. Her job placement allowed her to apply the skills she had gained from both majors, as she worked on policy implementation strategies in counternarcotics and crime regulation. She helped with preparation for high-level international meetings focused on treaty compliance and implementation issues, along with policy drafting for UN Commissions related to drugs and crimes. After graduation, Nika went on to pursue a law degree at Harvard Law School.

Galen graduated from USC with a B.A. in International Relations and a minor in Economics in 2017. While participating in the Dornsife DC program, he interned at a foreign policy think-tank called the National Security Network. At the same time he took numerous foreign policy courses and decided that afterwards, he wanted to live and work abroad as soon as possible. After graduating, he moved to Laos on a Princeton in Asia fellowship and worked at the Lao Rugby Federation. He is now living and working as the Princeton in Asia Fellow at the Jakarta office of Vriens & Partners, a government affairs consultancy focusing on Southeast Asia.