Four Princeton students receive fellowships for study in international affairs

Pooja Makhijani, princeton.edu

Kumar image from article

Excerpt:

Three undergraduate students and one graduate student have been awarded fellowships related to the Foreign Service Office of the U.S. State Department.

The recipients are: James Fromson, who was awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship; Shobhit Kumar, who was awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship; Suraj Kushwaha, who was awarded a David L. Boren Scholarship; and Zinna Senbetta, who was awarded a Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. ...

Kumar, from Ellicott City, Maryland, is a junior majoring in the Woodrow Wilson School. He is also earning certificates in East Asian studies and the history and the practice of diplomacy. He will receive $37,500 annually for tuition, room and board, and books. It also provides funding for summer internships.

The Pickering Fellowship is funded by the U.S. State Department, and offers two years of financial support and mentoring and professional development to prepare fellows for a career in the Foreign Service. Fellows complete a domestic internship at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and an overseas internship at a U.S. embassy.

Kumar has worked as a student consultant for Princeton Business Volunteers, a visiting English language teacher at Jishou Normal University in Hunan Province, China, a summer honors scholar at American Enterprise Institute, and a National Security Language Initiative for Youth alumni representative at the American Councils for International Education.

Among his honors and awards include: second place in the Chinese Bridge Competition, the largest Mandarin competition in China; a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to study Mandarin in Chengdu, China; and a certificate of special recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives for outstanding service to the community.

At Princeton, Kumar has participated in Princeton Mock Trial and has served as a U-Councilor of the Undergraduate Student Government, academics chair of Whitman College Council and a "Big Sibling" at the Pace Center for Civic Engagement.

Kumar aspires to be a public diplomacy officer in the Foreign Service, in which he can "combine qualitative knowledge of the Foreign Service with quantitative experience in data analysis and coding," he said. ...