To say Lauren Billet enrolled at the University of North Georgia unprepared would be an understatement.
"I was really distracted and didn't know what I wanted to do," she said.
But once she walked onto UNG's Dahlonega Campus, she found her home and a path to find her passion. The native of Columbus, Georgia, explored many avenues at UNG, including graduate school. After she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in political science in December 2016, she enrolled in UNG's Master of Arts in International Affairs program.
As a graduate student, Billet took advantage of several opportunities and garnered a couple of distinguished honors.
In fall 2017, she was selected to attend a Fulbright symposium to discuss Canada's role on the world stage. For a week in September 2017, she debated and discussed policy formulation and cultural activities with Canadian diplomats, government officials, and the media. Then she and the other students reported their conclusions in a collaborative brief and submitted it to Fulbright Canada.
In spring 2018, Billet was the first UNG graduate student to apply for and win a David L. Boren Fellowship. It provides funding opportunities for U.S. graduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests.
Through the Boren Fellowship, Billet spent four months in Amman, Jordan, learning Arabic and immersing herself in the Middle Eastern culture.
"It was challenging in all honesty," she said. "It taught me a lot, but more than anything it helped me realize what I really wanted out of life and the places I wanted to go."
The trip in fall 2018 helped her connect her interests in Palestine, and potentially attending law school. She said she would like to use the law to help the Middle Eastern country through international law and human rights.
The trip also taught her about multitasking. As she studied the language in Jordan, she conducted her graduate work for UNG online.
"I did most of my reading and assignments for the MAIA program at night," Billet said, noting she only took one course while overseas. "I would not have been able to complete the program if it wasn't online. The malleability has been its greatest asset for me since I valued the extracurricular opportunities as much as I valued the education itself."
After she returned from Jordan, Billet concentrated on her MAIA degree and worked part time for the Georgia Writers Museum while she lived with her mother in Eatonton, Georgia. In August 2019, she earned the MAIA. She said she felt fine during graduation but knew she was not finished with higher education yet.
"I don't think I'm done with going to school, and I don't want to be done. I’m leaning toward law school," she said. "But I needed to relax after this since I've been in school for six years."
In the months that followed, Billet searched for a job that suited her skills and filled her with purpose.
"I wanted to work for an organization whose mission I believed in, agreed with and found important in the long run," she said.
Billet found that at the think tank Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. In June 2020, she became a communications associate for the center after previously serving as an assistant to the president and CEO with different roles including office manager and internship coordinator.
