Emma Wrona MPA’28, from Fort Collins, Colorado, is a senior University Scholar at Baylor University studying International Studies, Political Science, and Economics. She will graduate summa cum laude from the Honors College, having completed a thesis on Chinese influence in the Pacific Islands, which received the highest thesis designation of “Outstanding,” and having been acknowledged as one of the top two University Scholars of her class. At Baylor, Emma was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Iota Rho International Relations Honor Society, where she served as Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer; Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Honor Society; and Alpha Lambda Delta Academic Honor Society. While at Baylor, Emma was awarded a 2023 David L. Boren Scholarship—an award issued by the Department of Defense for intensive and immersive study of critical languages—where she pursued Turkish and Azerbaijani language studies in Baku, Azerbaijan. During her undergraduate career, Emma completed internships with the U.S.Department of State’s Embassy to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu and the Embassy to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu, where she conducted research and analysis on climate change initiatives and Chinese influence; the U.S. Department of Defense, where she worked in intelligence analysis; and the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee; amongst others.