As a University of North Georgia (UNG) student, Anita Renfroe applied for and won several highly prestigious and competitive scholarships. They included the David L. Boren Scholarship, the Critical Language Scholarship, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, and Fulbright U.S. Program.
A couple of these scholarships funded study abroad trips to Oman in the Middle East, Tanzania in East Africa and Morocco in North Africa. She also traveled to Spain to finish the requirements to earn her bachelor's degree in modern languages with a concentration in Arabic, along with a minor in Spanish.
These trips increased Renfroe's appetite to serve her country either as a Foreign Service Officer or an agent with the U.S. State Department. As a UNG alumna, she has continued to search for opportunities to serve. In spring 2019, Renfroe applied for the White House Fellowship Program.
"I was looking up different jobs to apply for because my time at AmeriCorps would end soon," she said. "With this job, I could be an assistant to a White House staff member."
AmeriCorps is a voluntary civil society program supported by the U.S. federal government, foundations, corporations, and other donors engaging adults in public service work with a goal of "helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. She was a citywide training developer with Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program.
While Renfroe was familiar with the application process, the Georgia native reached out to Dr. Anastasia Lin, assistant vice president of research and engagement and associate professor of English at UNG. Lin had helped Renfroe with her previous essays for the national scholarships.
"Dr. Lin and I sent back and forth drafts of my essays," Renfroe said. "She was outstanding to work with once again."
Her essay earned Renfroe a regional interview, but she did not progress any further. It is not the first time that happened. Renfroe was named an alternate for the Charles B. Rangel Fellowship and finalist for the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.
The Rangel Fellowship is a six-week summer program designed to provide undergraduate students with a deeper appreciation of current issues and trends in international affairs, a greater understanding of career opportunities in international affairs, and the enhanced knowledge and skills to pursue such careers. An average of 15 students are selected each year.
The Pickering Fellowship provides students with financial support, mentoring and professional development to prepare them for a career in the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service. Renfroe was one of only 20 students in the nation to be interviewed for the fellowship in 2017-18 academic year.
Renfroe said the application process and the encouragement she received at UNG helped her grow into the woman she is today.
"I feel that these experiences have helped me market myself to employers," she said, adding she can offer examples of her time overseas learning languages. "I also speak out more."
Renfroe is pursuing a Master of Public Administration at a university in Arizona.
She also attributes her success to her training, discipline and structure she learned in UNG's Corps of Cadets. It also instilled in her a desire to serve her country in the future as a civilian at home or internationally, which she never considered as a teenager.
"If you had told the middle school or high school me that I was going to study abroad and it would be paid for, I would not have believed you," she said. "And I never knew it would take me this far."
