MACON – Mercer University rising senior Simran Khoja was recently accepted to the 2018 Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES) as a participant in the Leadership Scholars Program.
Khoja, a double-major in economics and math from Lilburn, will receive tuition and housing from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) to attend ICPES this summer in Washington, D.C. She will be enrolled in and earn credit for two courses, Economic Problems and Public Policies and American Foreign Policy, through George Mason University and will participate in an internship.
“I’m very excited to have been given this opportunity to live, learn and intern in D.C. for the summer,” said Khoja. “After studying economics in the classroom for the past three years, I’m interested to see how the economic ideas and concepts I have studied are playing out from a policy perspective in Washington.”
As part of the program, students interested in pursuing careers in public policy, economics and government service will attend special events during the summer, including a special welcome orientation, roundtable luncheon and other exclusive speaker events. The program also covers costs to participate in continuing education opportunities in the academic year following the summer. These activities will include online and in-person lectures and professional development seminars.
“The internships of the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems are some of the most competitive in the country. They have a strong reputation for providing undergrad students with the right combination of academics and real-world experience at congressional offices, policy groups, think tanks, etc.,” said Dr. Antonio Saravia, associate professor of economics and director of Mercer’s BB&T Center for Undergraduate Research in Public Policy and Capitalism. “Simran is definitely one of our best students. I have no doubt that the dedication, interest and enthusiasm she always shows in her work will allow her to take full advantage of this opportunity.”
Khoja studied abroad this academic year in Hong Kong as a Gilman Scholar. She previously traveled to Ecuador with Mercer On Mission.
She is part of a research team that received a People, Prosperity, and Planet (P3) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a project to treat residential gray water for reuse in sub-surface landscape irrigation.
Khoja is active in Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity and has worked for the Academic Resource Center as an SI leader and peer tutor. She is also a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
Since 1967, TFAS has been a leader in educating young people from around the world in the fundamental principles of American democracy and the free market system. TFAS has been the launching pad for nearly 17,000 students who have participated in its programs in Washington, D.C., and around the world in Asia, Europe and South America. Alumni of these programs are leaders in government, business, the media and the nonprofit sector. For more information, visit www.dcinternships.org.
