UC Communication Student Selected for Competitive Internship at American Embassy

As McMicken College of Arts and Sciences student Tamika Jones waits to board the plane for Mexico to begin a selective internship this semester, she also has her Truman Scholarship application in mind. 

“I always knew I wanted to do public service work in the public or private sector,” says Jones. “I decided to apply for the Truman Scholarship when I was offered an internship at the U.S. Embassy in spring 2014.”

Jones, a communication and spanish double major, was offered this position as primary intern at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and she was ecstatic to learn that she will be interning in the bureau she is most interested in, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. 

While she is excited for the unique work experience, she does have some concerns about her semester in Mexico. 

“Understanding that Mexico is on the U.S. Travel Warning List, I was a little nervous,” says Jones. “However, public service is a selfless act, and I had to remind myself that it is not about me, it is about the people I will be helping and the desire to build better relations between nations.”

That’s why applying for the Truman Scholarship seemed like a no-brainer for Jones. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is aimed at outstanding young students who are interested in graduate school as well as a career in public service leadership. 

“If I am awarded the Truman Scholarship, my plans are to go to graduate school where there is a chance to study international affairs/business, all while emphasizing the need of a second language,” says Jones.

And she recognizes that being in the PR1ZE program at UC has given her a huge advantage. PR1ZE — which stands for “Putting Retention 1st in the Zest for Excellence” — is a mentoring program between students and faculty with a focus on historically underrepresented minority students.

“The PR1ZE program has given me direction and is continuing to steer me in the right direction in my career,” says Jones. 

And Jones knows that her mentor, educator professor in the Communication Department Lisa Newman, has played an important role in her success. 

“Although she is a busy woman, professor Newman has been truly a pivotal piece to my success as a student,” she says. “Her investment in me as a student, her encouraging attitude, her positivity and most of all her smile are what pushed me to reach limits I would have never thought I could accomplish.”