Current Tufts student Caleb Seamon shared the following about being a Summer Intern at Sports Diplomacy Division at the United States Department of State …
What did you do as an intern at this organization?
My responsibilities as an intern this summer were split up between long term on-going projects and short term projects related to a specific moment. For long-term project I ran the division’s twitter page, which proved to be an important and time-consuming job considering all government social media accounts have very specific rules for the language used. I also (alongside the other two interns) helped develop and update a master spreadsheet for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at-large which tracked all related factors to resuming suspended foreign exchange programs during this stage of the pandemic. I also began research on a “curriculum guide” which will be distributed to exchange participants to better understand the country they travel to. During the Olympics, I amplified all content related to the olympians which had participated in the Sports Diplomacy Division’s programming in the past. In addition, I sat in on meetings to brief outgoing Foreign Service Officers and met with as many State Department colleagues at different offices as possible.
How did you find this internship?
Through a friend I discovered the portal to apply to the State Department Summer Internship Program.
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
I loved the office environment and how passionate all staff members were about the work we did. It trickled down and made working as an intern easier. Additionally, it was so illuminating to understand how the large bureaucracy of the State Department works on a daily basis.
What did you find challenging?
Working virtually always makes me feel disconnected from the office I’m interning in and I still wish I could have physically worked in the Harry Truman building.
What advice would you offer to someone who wants to make the most of an internship like yours?
Always say what interests you the most and ask as many people as possible to 20 minutes of talking to hear about their work experience!
About the Organization
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs – Sports Diplomacy
Housed in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), our people-to-people sports exchanges open doors in hard-to-reach places and engage communities at the grassroots level. We believe that if we can sweat it out together on the field or court, then we can see eye-to-eye with one another. When leveraged thoughtfully and strategically, we know that sports can be a platform to champion foreign policy priorities—inclusion, youth empowerment, gender equality, health & wellness, conflict resolution, and entrepreneurism.
