Interview by Shelby Xu, ’24

Sophia Fulton’s interest in international relations first stemmed from her parent’s journey. Her mother, who immigrated from Laos, and her father first met during their service in the Peace Corps in Niger. Growing up with this legacy provided her with the encouragement to explore new subjects beyond the confines of her community in Minnesota, such as learning French and Arabic. Learning from her parent’s past experiences, Sophia grew up believing that she was capable of pursuing a challenging global career.

As a student at Baylor University,  Sophia was a part of Baylor’s Business Fellows program. She majored in Finance, Economics, and Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies. Being a part of organizations like Model United Nations, Model Arab League and studying the Arabic language is what piqued Sophia’s interest in studying U.S. foreign policy specifically in the Middle East. She was also a part of the Baylor in Washington program, which helped her gain real-world experiences and a lifetime worth of skills. During her sophomore year, she applied to the U.S. Foreign Service internship program that provides funding for two summer internships, one in Washington, D.C. and one abroad, with the State Department. Fulton was able to fulfill the internship program by working at the Economic Bureau in the State Department and the Political and Economic section at the U.S. Embassy at Lisbon, Portugal. During her senior year, Sophia received the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, which includes funding for a two-year graduate program and a five-year contract as a Foreign Service Officer. At the same time, she was also doing Baylor in Washington program, where she was working for a think tank called the Institute for the Study of War. Her internships in Washington solidified her interest in working within government on the policy-making side.

Since Sophia accepted the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, she attended graduate school right after graduating from Baylor. She studied at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). After graduating in 2023, she is currently in language training before her first tour as a Foreign Service Officer.

Through the experiences at Baylor as well as the internships, Sophia emphasized the importance of having strong and succinct writing as well as time management. Some advice that Sophia would give to current and prospective students would be to just relax and really just enjoy life. During her last two years of graduate school, she intentionally focused on finding ways to decompress and step away from work, which helped her realize that she will have a more sustainable life and career in the long term. Ultimately, the key is to have a good work and life balance.

For more information about the Baylor in Washington, D.C. program or Baylor Model United Nations (MUN) and how you could pursue opportunities in foreign affairs, check out the information linked above. If you want to learn about Baylor Model Arab League, email Dr. Whitcomb at Lynn_Whitcomb@baylor.edu.