You never know how a single email can change the trajectory of your life’s path.
Sarita Smith, a Savannah State University senior majoring in political science, had her sights set on attending law school after graduation at Georgetown University (GU) in Washington, D.C., but one day an email from her professor, Dr. Otilia Iancu, peaked her interest.
The email described an all-expenses paid opportunity for HBCU students at the same university she was interested in attending, but it wasn’t for legal education. The Georgetown University Security Studies Summer Institute, designed to give students a small dose of what it means to study and work in the field of security studies, was not a path Sarita saw herself taking, but she was open to exploring what it was all about.
“I didn’t think of myself as a match for the program to be honest, but I was interested in attending law school there, so I thought, let me just try it and see,” she said.
The program helps expand the diversity of the national security field by increasing awareness of and access to graduate training and career opportunities in security-related fields. During the one-week institute, Sarita met 17 other HBCU students from various universities, including Howard, Morgan and Virginia State. She visited the Pentagon, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the United Nations headquarters, and made connections with the Secretary of the Army and the Intelligence Agency’s Diversity and Inclusion Officer.
At the Defense Intelligence Agency, Sarita saw an opportunity to network, connecting Savannah State University’s Director of Career Services, Shed Dawson, with the Intelligence Agency’s Diversity and Inclusion Officer. As an ambassador for her HBCU, Sarita encourages students to be aware of what their university has to offer, so they can always be ready to market Savannah State when the opportunity presents itself.
“The Diversity and Inclusion Officer was looking for HBCU undergraduates to apply to their programs, so I connected her with Mr. Dawson to set up a career fair for students in our Homeland Security and Data Analytics programs to really help other Tigers find that route to D.C. and jobs in the government.”
Attending the summer institute helped Sarita to gain a new perspective that changed her mind and the direction of her future. Now instead of pursuing law school, she plans to apply for one of the master’s programs at GU, either in Global Human Development or Foreign Service. On top of that, she got to see the campus and recognized the diversity of the faculty, which was very important to her.
“I felt like coming from an HBCU and then going to a predominantly white institution (PWI), I believed a stereotype that I might not belong, but seeing how their faculty is insanely diverse – a lot of their faculty members are women of color — opened my mind,” she said. “Coming into the program, I felt very welcomed. Coming out of the program with new understanding changed my mindset on how I looked at grad schools. I was very happy that I was able to attend the program and get more insight on what I wanted to do.”
The Bowie, Maryland native is slated to graduate from Savannah State in spring of 2023, but she has some advice for her fellow Tigers, with an emphasis on checking email.
“I encourage other Savannah State students to really take advantage of these opportunities,” she said. “Put yourself out there, because you never know. You will get amazing experiences, and the worst thing they can say is no. Also, check your emails regularly, because this is something I would have missed, if I had just deleted it really quick.”
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