Newest SINSI scholars announced

Woody Woo fountain — Princeton University, Office of Communications.

The Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative Graduate Program selected four students to participate in the program next year. Dina Chotrani, Caroline Jones, Newby Parton, and Caitlin Quinn, all part of the Class of 2018, were announced as the newest SINSI scholars in the last week of November.

While not a requirement for the program, all the scholars selected this year are Woodrow Wilson School concentrators.

The SINSI Graduate Program, established in 2006, is a scholarship program that provides academic training and federal service work experience for University seniors and Masters in Public Affairs students who are interested in public policy careers.

Jones, of Princeton, N.J., is pursuing certificates in Latin American studies and the History and Practice of Diplomacy.

“I wanted to work in the State Department since early high school," said Jones. "Being a diplomat is my dream job."

In addition to interning at CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Global Public Square as a recipient of the Ferris Grant for Summer Internships in Journalism, Jones has also worked in New York City at the State Department’s Mission to the United Nations. On campus, she is president of the Glee Club and Chamber Choir and is also a member of the figure skating team.

Parton, of McMinnville, Tenn., is a certificate candidate in Values and Public Life and Urban Studies. He has worked in the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and intends to pursue a joint MPA/J.D. degree and career in civil rights law. He explained that he connected to the program "personally."

On campus, he worked as a counselor for a STEM camp serving minority and low-income students and has served as president of Speak with Style, and president of a debate group.

Parton is a former editor for the 'Prince.'

Quinn, of San Antonio, Tex., is pursuing certificates in Latin American studies and Portuguese. She spent nine months in Salvador, Brazil, before her freshman year through the University’s Bridge Year Program, where she learned Portuguese and volunteered as an English teacher.

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"I like that SINSI gives me a roadmap," Quinn said

She also interned at a newspaper in Malaga, Spain, and with a public diplomacy bureau of the State Department in Washington, D.C. On campus, she works at the Writing Center.

“Right off the bat, I was really excited about [the program],” said Quinn. “It is what I envisioned myself [doing] career-wise.”

Chotrani, of Secaucus, N.J., is pursuing certificates in Global Health and Health Policy, History and the Practice of Diplomacy, and Entrepreneurship. She has worked on affordable housing policy at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, advanced gender equality advocacy efforts in Mexico City, and is also a student fellow in the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination’s Project on Women in the Global Community.

Chotrani did not respond to request for comment.

The SINSI program consists of a two-year MPA program with a full scholarship for tuition and living expenses at the University’s Woodrow Wilson School and a two-year fellowship with an executive branch department or agency. Past internships have included positions at the White House, Environmental Protection Agency, Council of Economic Advisers, National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health.