After his graduation from Susquehanna University, KaMeron Hopkins will begin a position with the U.S. Department of State, a continuation of the prestigious and highly competitive Foreign Affairs Information Technology Fellowship awarded to him in 2024.
FAIT Fellows agree to a five-year commitment upon entry into the U.S. Foreign Service as information management specialists. The first assignment for the Odenton, Maryland, native is an internship in Brussels, Belgium, to prepare him for onboarding as a full-time Diplomatic Technology Officer. After he completes his internship Hopkins will return stateside for onboarding training and to choose his State Department post.
“I’m looking forward to the travel that comes with being a DTO, along with the challenges,” Hopkins said. “Being a DTO requires you to adapt to constantly changing environments from embassy to embassy, and that’s a nice change of pace compared to what I’m used to.”
DTOs support and maintain secure and reliable IT tools and resources, ensuring that the State Department, other federal agencies, nongovernment partners and Americans overseas can effectively communicate at over 275 overseas posts in nearly 200 countries.
In addition to tuition assistance, mentorship and professional development, FAIT Fellows are also placed in summer internships. Hopkins, who majored in computer science, completed an internship last summer at one of the State Department’s annexes in Washington, D.C., where he provided IT support.
“The FAIT Fellowship prepared me professionally by allowing me to become more adaptable,” Hopkins said. “When the other fellows and I came to the department, it was going through a mass reorganization, causing a lot of challenging and stressful obstacles. That experience taught me how to adapt to situations as they arose.”
Hopkins’ interest in the State Department and fellowship stemmed from his work as an intern with the U.S. Department of Defense, a position he began in high school that centered around data engineering and analysis.
“I chose this career path because it combines what I like to do as well as interests I never had the chance to capitalize on,” Hopkins explained. “My original plan was to do government work on a military scale. But over time, I felt unfulfilled and wanted to lean more into my personal interests. I believe this career path will accomplish this.”
