by Saakshi Mathew (’24)

Eryn graduated in May of 2022 as an International Studies major with minors in Arabic and History. During her senior year, Eryn realized that she didn’t have a clear idea of what she wanted to do after graduation, all she knew was that she wanted to work with National Security and in the intelligence community. However, she realized this was a broad field, so she decided to attend graduate school as a way to continue being a student and explore her options in her particular field of interest. Looking back now, Eryn never would have thought she would be working on the Hill with policy and law.

Her time at Baylor provided her with the ability to establish professional relationships and to hold her own in a room full of qualified people, a skill she soon realized was invaluable in a city like DC. Along with the ability to network well, Eryn’s studies at Baylor had prepared her well in Arabic. With these two skills, she realized her current program would be a perfect fit for her. She was able to continue her studies of Arabic to meet the program’s language requirement and was able to find internships and jobs, such as her current role in Congress, through her Professors and guest speakers, the majority of whom work in the intelligence community.

As a legislative correspondent in Congress, Eryn is the advisor to Congressman Buck on
all matters related to National Security, Defense, and Foreign Affairs. Any issues that fall under these categories get directed to her. Eryn’s main responsibility is to take meetings with those who may have a concern in these particular areas, assess the problem, research to determine what laws and policies could be implemented to alleviate the issue, and then discuss her legislation advice with Congressman Buck. A lot of her meetings and research surround current technology in the defense field. Her other roles include aiding Congressman Buck, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, anytime the Committee holds hearings or has a markup for bills, by prepping him for the meetings and researching the legislation being voted on to recommend how he should vote.

Though she begins work at 8:30 in the morning and attends classes from 6-9:30, Eryn has enjoyed the opportunities this experience has provided her with and how much it has pushed her out of her comfort zone. Through her work, she has been able to meet officials like the Egyptian Ambassador, whom she was able to have a conversation in Arabic with. Eryn’s advice to those on similar paths as her would be to “just apply for everything.” She described how though you may only meet 75% of the multiple qualifications listed, don’t think you can’t apply because of that remaining 25%. She emphasized how even though they put those qualifications on paper, they are looking at you as a person. So just apply even if you don’t meet all the requirements because you never know what could happen!