Sarah Lind-MacMillan ’22 receives Rangel Fellowship

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Sarah Lind-MacMillan ’22 was recently named a Rangel Fellowship winner. Lind-MacMillan is excited to begin this new chapter of her life. 

The Charles B. Rangel International Affairs scholarship program aims to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service of the United States Department of State in which they can help formulate, represent and implement U.S. foreign policy.

According to the program’s  website, the Rangel Fellowship awards 45 fellowships of up to $42,000 annually for the completion of a two-year master’s degree. This includes up to $24,000 per year for tuition and mandatory fees and an academic year stipend of $18,000. At the conclusion of two years of study, the Rangel Fellow is expected to have obtained a degree in international affairs or another area of relevance to the work of the Foreign Service at an approved graduate school.

According to the LC website, Lind-MacMillan will intern with a member of Congress and the State Department will send her overseas to intern in a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Upon completion of the program, Lind-MacMillan will become a U.S. diplomat in the summer of 2024.

Lind-MacMillan was inspired by Mikah Bertelmann ’21, who was the previous ASB president. 

“I’m very proud of Sarah for becoming LC’s third Rangel Fellow. She is immensely qualified and well equipped to succeed in this fellowship, at grad school and in her career as a diplomat.”Bertelmann said via email. “I know she will be a great addition to the Rangel family and I look forward to working alongside her in the U.S. Foreign Service, promoting diversity and giving underrepresented groups a voice in foreign policy.” 

According to Lind-MacMillan, Bertelmann was very encouraging and supportive of her  decision to apply to the program and was a great mentor throughout the process.

“I am really excited to go to grad school, it is something that I know that I have always wanted to do, but with how expensive it is, it was pretty daunting to think about having to find a way to pay for it.” Lind-Macmillan said.

Lind-Macmillan wants to pursue a master’s in public policy or international affairs and she applied to a number of schools with both programs. 

“I really love IA, I am an IA major, and I am excited to spend at least five years in a career abroad,” Lind-Macmillan said. “I never got to go abroad at LC, just because of the pandemic, so I think it will be cool to just go someplace and try it out.”

Lind-Macmillan said that her professor, Assistant Professor of International Affairs Laura Vinson, was very supportive during the process and she wrote her letters of recommendation. Lind-MacMillan was also happy to see people extend their support across campus when she was announced as a finalist. 

Rocky Campbell, vice president of student life and executive director of the career center, professors across the IA department and friends at LC conducted mock interviews with Lind-MacMillan. She is both excited and nervous about the possibilities after winning the Rangel scholarship. 

“Hopefully, I will get to be in DC for the summer,” Lind-Macmillan said. “I have never been to Washington, DC. I am really looking forward to that and looking forward to launching my career. I am really proud of my accomplishments.”