Students network with intelligence community

From July 14-18, the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Cumming Campus hosted high school students from across Georgia and the U. S. for the fourth annual National Intelligence Summer Academy (NISA). Dr. Edward Mienie, executive director of the strategic and security studies bachelor's degree program and partnerships and professor of strategic and security studies, envisioned NISA along with the former Institute for Leadership and Strategic Studies and created the NISA syllabus.

The academy made an enormous impression on Madison Dewey, Cristin Gibson, Lydia O’Neill, and Hailey Thomas, who served as staff assistants this year providing students an exceptional experience and help networking with former members of the CIA, FBI and other agencies.

Dewey, a junior from Bethlehem, Georgia, is pursuing a degree in criminal justice with a forensics concentration, Peace Officer Standards and Training certification and a minor in intelligence.

"I dove into the intelligence field when I added my minor. This experience is a whole other world for me," she said. "I have always been interested in the FBI. I want to work counterterrorism, and this was a great place to work on that by networking. The speakers discussed technology, cyber security, and things I didn’t know even existed.”

Gibson, a Gainesville, Georgia, resident, used her time with NISA to learn about opportunities within the intelligence community, specifically the FBI, from others.

"I wanted to meet people in my field of study and hear from them what their lives have been like in their respective agencies, hoping they can provide insight as to how I could possibly do the same for myself one day," she said. "I love the diversity within the FBI. I love what it's about and what it does domestically and internationally."

For Gibson, the speakers did not disappoint.

"They are so dedicated to what they do," she said. "They have served a lifetime to their country, the cause, and all they want to do is help the next generation. I think that's important. They've shared and relived some of the best — and worst — moments, but they love what they do. It's tough and it's dirty. It's not glamorous like Hollywood makes it out to be."

Gibson is a junior pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies with a concentration in intelligence.

O'Neill, an attendee last year, returned to deepen her knowledge of the intelligence community, she said, and coupled with a deep respect for Mienie, she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to serve the program's attendees and speakers.

"I love to learn from all different angles. I'm used to learning about human intelligence, but here I get to focus on geospatial intelligence, signals intelligence, other aspects that I wouldn't traditionally learn about. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into the field," O’Neill, a Braselton, Georgia, resident, said. "I'd take any opportunity I can to help him out."

O'Neill wants to work in international human rights, ideally international antitrafficking organizations, and ultimately as an attorney for human and civil rights. She said the opportunity to work with NISA has afforded her several networking connections. She is a sophomore at the University of Georgia pursuing a degree in international affairs and a minor in international human rights and security.

Thomas likened NISA to "an Honors program for students who are interested in intelligence."

"The majority of them are reciting things I've studied and poured over in textbooks," she said. "That's impressive to me. I've seen they've done their homework. They're invested and paying attention."

Thomas is a senior pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies with a concentration in intelligence and a minor in Russian. She is Headquarters Company commander for the Corps of Cadets and president of UNG's student chapter of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFE). Thomas calls Seville, Florida, home.

"I'm really looking for an idea of how I can provide better content to the student members of IAFE and learn something more to benefit my own career," she said. "Being a staff assistant inspired me to continue moving in this direction and verifies it. This is exactly what I want to be doing: work in intelligence, help protect the United States and work to uphold the Constitution."

The four were unanimous in their hope the program continues to inspire others, but Gibson summed it up best.

"The program is important. We need it," she said.