Tibetan spotlights: Sonam Rikha Interns in U.S. Embassy in Thailand
Tenzin Kunsang, a Rokpa Board Member, leads our Tibetan Spotlights Edition, where we profile young Tibetans and share their stories to inspire others.
“Because of my background growing up in one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Chicago, and constantly being surrounded by refugees and immigrants, just naturally made me interested in what were the conditions that caused them to end up here in the U.S.”
This past summer, Sonam Rikha ‘24, Pomona College, interned at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand under the U.S. Foreign Service Internship Program. During her ten weeks abroad, she worked in the Public Affairs Section with the social media and press teams to better understand how the U.S. promotes its interests abroad and engages with local and international media outlets in Thailand.
Rikha first learned of USFSIP during her freshman year of college through a simple internet search. “I didn’t know about it before and I didn’t know of any alums of the program but I was interested in working at a government agency, especially one that directly dealt with foreign policy, so I was naturally interested in the State Department,” Rikha said. She also noted that the generous financial aid—stipends, an hourly wage, housing, and traveling allowances—was another motivating factor in applying to the program.
She sent her application during the one week-long submission window and found out about her acceptance during her sophomore year. However, the offer was conditional in that she still needed to submit her security clearance, which is essentially a background check that confirms if an individual can be trusted with confidential information.
Upon acceptance into the program, interns—like Rikha—are required to spend their first summer in Washington D.C. During the first three weeks, interns undergo academic and professional training, which culminates in an internship in the U.S. Department of State during the last seven weeks. Interns spend the next summer working at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad for ten weeks.
At the State Department, Rikha interned in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor with the South and Central Asia desk. As an intern, she monitored the human rights abuses in 13 countries, met with civil society organisations, and managed the Bhutan and LGBTQIA+ portfolios.
Rikha ranked Thailand as her top location preference because of its title as the biggest U.S. Embassy in the world, in addition to their recent political and economic developments having moved from low income to upper middle income status in less than a generation.
As a Public Affairs intern, she was responsible for sending daily media press summaries to the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand and other higher level officials within the embassy. She also supported media engagements with the ambassador and created social media content for the embassy’s social media platforms.
Although she spent a majority of her time in the capital city, Rikha also visited neighbouring areas during her breaks where she visited temples and tried out new foods from street vendors.
“On the weekends, I would often travel solo to different parts of Thailand including Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pattaya, and Koh Lan.” When she wasn’t travelling, Rikha would explore Bangkok’s night markets, parks, and malls with American and Thai interns at the embassy.
Rikha returned to the States in mid August and is currently in her final year of college. She plans on continuing her on campus commitment with the Saturday Tongan Education Program (STEP) — under the Asian American Resource Center where she previously interned — which she has been involved with since her first year at Pomona.
“That program basically has college students volunteer to help local Tongan students with homework and have fun activities planned for those groups of students.”
As an International Relations major and Asian Studies minor, much of Rikha’s work has focused on activities that promote cultural dialogue and human rights advocacy. She attributes these interests to her own experiences as a daughter of Tibetan and Asian immigrants.
“Being Tibetan, and being a daughter of Tibetan refugees, who grew up stateless in India naturally made me curious about how I could help support the Tibetan community and uplift their voices,” she said. “Because of my background growing up in one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in Chicago, and constantly being surrounded by refugees and immigrants, just naturally made me interested in what were the conditions that caused them to end up here in the U.S.”
“Being raised in that multicultural environment made me interested to learn more about other cultures, communities, and their histories,” Rikha added.
She hopes to continue learning about different cultures and communities after college, as well. “I see myself working for the State Department, either as a civil servant in D.C. or a diplomat abroad,” she said. She is also interested in working with NGOs like Amnesty International, having previously worked with them.
In her final year at Pomona, Rikha advises that college students apply to internships—small or big—because it provides gateways to career opportunities in the future.
“It’s not only a good way to build your resume but also to build connections, and in the field of international relations it seems like a lot of people get jobs because of the connections they’ve made with other interns [and at meetups].”
If you would like to be connected with Sonam, please email mentorshiprokpa@gmail.com.