Victoria Davidson
Honors College junior Victoria Davidson dreamed of a diplomatic career, and she is on her way to achieving that dream! A double major in History and Foreign Languages and Literature with an emphasis in German, Victoria will move to Europe this fall to work as a student intern for the US Embassy in Vienna.
To win this job, Victoria competed against other applicants to the US Department of State Student Internship Program, which enables aspiring diplomats to get an inside look at the field and take an active role in diplomacy. This program places students in State Department offices in Washington, D.C., as well as US embassies around the world.
“This is absolutely the opportunity of a lifetime, and I am beyond excited to start this journey into diplomacy,” Victoria said. “I’ll be working with the combined Political/Economic Unit at the Embassy, which will give me the chance to learn and be challenged every day. I will take notes at meetings, analyze this information, and then create reports that will be sent to State Department offices in Washington. I will get to dig deep into topics that interest me and develop my own projects. I would like to research the cultural and political history of Austria, looking at the country’s ties to Germany and other German-speaking nations.”
Victoria prepared for this amazing opportunity by working as an intern at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence and by participating in the Honors College Scotland Study Abroad Program in July 2017. She has good advice for other Honors College students who are interested in finding internships outside the US: “It’s definitely a long process, and even now, after I’ve accepted the position, there’s still a lot to be worked out. Once I get security clearance and a visa, everything will be 100% official and things will start to take shape. So keep with it! The process may seem harrowing, but there is so much to be learned from experiences like this.”
