University of Rochester undergraduate Zachary Palomo '13 has recently been selected as a 2012 Public Policy & International Affairs Fellow at the Princeton Junior Summer Institute. He is the first Rochester student to be named a PPIA fellow in the last dozen years and is among the 37 recipients selected from a national pool of 525 candidates to participate in the program.
Palomo, a native of Hondo, Texas, is working toward a bachelor of arts degree in international relations and Russian. As a PPIA fellow, he will spend seven weeks at Princeton University in this highly selective summer program designed to prepare students for graduate study and careers in public policy and international affairs.
"I felt that this program would give me a new perspective on international relations," Palomo said. "I have studied how decisions made by the government affect society and other governments, and I believe that this program will help me to understand how governments make public policy decisions."
Palomo's academic career at the University has included several study abroad experiences. He spent one month in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010 and in summer 2011 he spent eight weeks in Ufa, Russia, engaged in intensive language courses as a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholar. Palomo also was awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and studied in St. Petersburg for the full 2011-2012 academic year.
"After a year of studying in Russia, I'm excited to spend my summer at a U.S. university," he added. "I hope that this program helps me transition from the Russian education system back to the U.S. education system."
While at Princeton, Palomo will study economics, statistics, policy analysis, writing, and public speaking. The program is a blend of classroom coursework and policy workshops that address a variety of domestic and international issues. Fellows also will have opportunities to meet with public affairs practitioners and visit the U.S. State Department and the United Nations.
The Princeton Junior Summer Institute, which is hosted by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, is part of the Public Policy & International Affairs Fellowship Program. A national consortium of top public policy and international affairs graduate schools, PPIA seeks to prepare college juniors for advanced degrees and careers serving the public good. In addition to Princeton's PPIA Junior Summer Institute, there are four other schools that host a PPIA summer institute, including the University of California at Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan. For additional information, please visit the PPIA Program's website.