Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

“Like everyone else,” said Alejandro Delgado (SFS ’08) “I came to SFS wanting to be an Ambassador.” Alejandro grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, at the southernmost tip of Texas on the Mexican border. As a high school student working at the Mexican Consulate in Austin, Alejandro “couldn’t think of any school more attractive for studying international relations than SFS.” When he arrived in Washington, he followed the same path as many SFS undergraduates and sought out government internships, landing two highly prized positions—one on the Hill at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the second in the Department of State’s Office of Cuban Affairs.

When the dropout rate for Latino high school students in this country is over 25%, that's unacceptable.

“Cuban Affairs was an SFS student’s dream,” Alejandro recalls. “Cuba is one of the few countries with its own desk at State, and so I was able to have an experience that was both unique and hands-on.” Though Latin America had always been an academic interest of Alejandro’s--leading to his pursuit of a certificate in Latin American Studies--at State his interest found its practical application.

Alejandro spent the fall semester of his junior year abroad in Santiago, Chile studying at two universities--La Universidad de Chile and Pontificia Universidad Catolica. While there, he was able to secure an internship with the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Despite Alejandro’s international trajectory, he was unable to detach himself from issues facing Americans of Latin American descent in the United States. “On a personal level, being Hispanic myself, I always had US Latino issues in the back of my mind.”

When it came time to choose a job right out of college, Alejandro made what some may consider a surprising decision. “There were times when I thought about pursuing a career at State or the UN,” he said, “but I realized that it’s important for me to give at least a few years back. SFS instilled in me a sense of obligation to society. Our local communities are where the process of change starts.”

Alejandro was accepted into Teach for America in Fall 2007 and will be teaching high school social studies back in his home state of Texas. “It’s not joining NATO,” he admits, with a smile. “I want to be where they don’t get a lot of interaction with Georgetown grads—on the front lines of America’s fight for educational equality here at home.”

“When the dropout rate for Latino high school students in this country is over 25%, that’s unacceptable.”