International Affairs D.C. trip: A hands-on approach to professional development

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Master’s candidates in the Penn State School of International Affairs (SIA) traveled to Washington, D.C., in February for a professional development trip that combined career exploration with experiential activities. The two-day experience in D.C. is one of two annual career trips—the other in New York City—that highlight SIA’s immersive, hands-on approach to professional development.

SIA Director and Professor of International Affairs Dr. Mitchell Smith, along with Director of Career Services Grant Littke, led a total of 31 students on the trip, which included a visit to the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, as well as Kroll, an international risk advisory firm. An alumni reception capped off the first night, and the trip concluded with an all-day session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

“This was a highly productive trip marked by informative visits to prospective employers and a day of analyzing global trends and engaging in a simulation exercise at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,” Smith said. “I am especially grateful for the valuable and prolonged discussions between current students and SIA alumni over dinner. Our D.C. alumni continue to be an enormous source of support for our program.”

Combining experiential learning and career prep

SIA has been leading students on career trips to D.C. and New York City for nearly two decades, and throughout that time the focus has been to provide students with an opportunity to learn about various career paths, gain insights from potential employers, and network with established professionals and SIA alumni.

Those elements remain important, but in the past two years the school has added a more immersive, experiential component to the trips—exemplified by this year’s all-day visit to CSIS.

The CSIS portion of the trip included two presentations by subject experts on timely topics: one focused on current cybersecurity issues, and another highlighting trends that will have a major impact on the future of international relations and national security. Following the presentations, CSIS staff led a panel discussion on careers in foreign policy that included a question-and-answer session with the students. For the afternoon, CSIS organized a cybersecurity simulation that put students into the roles of leaders and experts responding to the challenges of a real-world scenario.

“CSIS is a great partner for SIA. Our students benefit enormously from engagement with CSIS experts who have extensive professional experience and who are at the forefront of discussions in their policy fields,” Smith said.

Though SIA has taken a new approach to professional development to better serve the needs of current students, the main objective will always be to prepare students to attain meaningful jobs and careers.

“I have found that the career trips helped open my eyes to the variety of professional possibilities available to me after graduation,” said Dasia Dewberry, a second-year master’s candidate. “The lesser-known career opportunities and less-explored sectors shine through on the trips and that has been incredibly valuable to me now that I am beginning my job search.”

Alumni reception: creating and strengthening connections

Each year, one of the highlights of the D.C. trip is the alumni reception—an opportunity for the past, present, and future of SIA to build connections.

Several alumni in attendance remarked that they enjoyed catching up with their former classmates and reminiscing about their time at SIA, while also meeting and imparting wisdom to the current students.

“As an alum, there is immense value in staying connected to Penn State SIA and current students,” said James Korman, class of 2019, who is a financial adviser at Prudential Financial and an adjunct professor at Lafayette College. “As a professional who operates in both the academic space and the financial advising space, I've learned over the course of my career that relationships are fundamental to success, no matter what you do.

“This is ever more important in the age of AI,” Korman added, “with so much disruption occurring across so many industries, I believe it is paramount that as Penn State SIA alumni, we must be there and support one another. To that end, I want to be sure I also serve as a resource for the next generation of leaders that SIA continues to produce.”

Other alumni, reflecting on what SIA meant to them, shared the importance of giving back.

“Staying connected with SIA gives me the opportunity to show my gratitude for my wonderful time at the school by doing what I can to help out the next generation of students,” said Will Baumgardner, class of 2022, who is an export policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security, adding, “It was heartening to meet the current crop of SIA students; their impressive pedigrees are a testament to the talent that SIA attracts and develops.”

For their part, current students expressed appreciation for the alumni who took the time to engage with them.

“Hearing directly from SIA alumni about their professional journeys made those opportunities feel tangible and attainable, while their advice on positioning ourselves in a competitive job market was invaluable,” said first-year master’s candidate Badar Khalid.

The D.C. trip provides a panorama perspective of SIA, from current students to young professionals, from established leaders to retired experts—the interactions among and between these groups help to cultivate SIA’s globally engaged community.

“Beyond the professional exposure, watching the sunset over the Washington Monument with friends was a beautiful reminder of why these shared experiences matter just as much as the career insights” Khalid said.

PHOTOS: 2026 D.C. Professional Development Trip