Where did life lead you after high school?
I knew that I wanted to go to University, but I was not exactly sure what I wanted to study or where. I ended up applying to a few schools in the UW system and I ended up choosing UW Oshkosh. Shortly after arriving, I joined the Model United Nations (UN) Team which has the reputation for being the most competitive Model UN Team in the world with all its successes at the National Model UN Competition, the world’s largest international Model UN conference held in New York each year. Due to this, I decided to establish a double major in International Studies and Political Science with a Global Scholar Certificate. While at UW Oshkosh, I was heavily involved in the Model UN Team by serving on its executive board for three years as the Oshkosh Student Association Student Representative, Vice-President, and President. Additionally, I held many roles in the Oshkosh Student Association such as Senator which I won an Outstanding Service Award out of 25 candidates for my work to establish a Diversity and Inclusion Committee. As a previous chair, vice-chair and general member of the Segregated Fees Committee, I had the opportunity to build skills in project budget management, by overseeing the distribution of a $15,000,000 budget. As a lead representative of the student voice in this area, with the University Staff, I led the process of evaluating the proposals from each of the nine units, and drafting the report of decisions which was sent to University Administration. Ultimately, I graduated in the Spring of 2021 as a double-major.
What are you doing now?
In my current role, I am an Associate Project Officer for the International Atomic Energy Agency in the Department of Technical Cooperation, Division for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. I have just started the beginning of my fourth year of working at international organizations abroad. Upon my graduation from UW Oshkosh in 2021, I applied to a UN internship in Vienna Austria, to which at my surprise, I was offered the position. At the time, I had never left the United States, let alone had a passport. Within the span of two months, I packed up my life and moved all the way to Vienna by myself. I spent one year at the IAEA in Vienna in the internship role, before moving to Paris, France as a Junior Analyst for Nuclear Education, Training, Outreach and Knowledge Management at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Nuclear Agency. After the completion of one year in Paris, I returned back to the IAEA for my current role as Associate Project Officer. In this role I work on the delivery of the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme in the region through programming, implementation, knowledge management, and partnership building on projects at the national, regional, and interregional levels in the thematic areas of radiation safety, health and nutrition, food and agriculture, energy, nuclear knowledge development and management, water and the environment, industrial applications, and radiation technology.
What are your plans for the future?
As I am now in the fourth year of my journey abroad, I am gaining critical experience in the field of international relations. I am loving the work that I am doing abroad because I feel so passionate about it. With everything in this field of work contract based, my ultimate goal is to stay abroad working in these organizations as long as I can, and to complete a Master’s program. My dream is that some day I could work at a United Nations organization at the headquarters in New York.
How did your high school experience help prepare you for your future?
I was a member of student government all my years including the Treasurer and President my senior year. During my first years at Walden, student government provided me a unique opportunity to bond with upperclassmen and to look up to their values and hard work. Walden has always been known as a central pillar of the community, especially in donating to the Racine County Food Bank. With exemplary role models from a young age, I knew that I wanted to be a leader at Walden. In high school, my homegroup teacher was Chris Semrad who was the high school coordinator. His mentorship and encouragement propelled me to believe in myself, exude confidence, and seek every leadership opportunity, whether in student government or in other student based decision making bodies. During my Presidency in student government, we raised $7,500 and 352 boxes of food for the Racine County Food Bank which was a record at the time.
One of the best examples I can credit to Walden about building my character was through my Civil Service class with Kimberly Sanders. We were tasked to implement a project to benefit our community in which my group decided to advocate for a much-needed four way stop on the corner of 10th and Center Street. Through this experience, we got to write a proposal and to present to the county aldermen which led to the successful vote of acceptance. This experience in politics really opened my mind to civil service, and is a formative experience leading to my role as an international civil servant today. Also in the classroom, the first time that I ever learned about the world around me was in Chris Semrad’s Geography class. When we discussed the Rwandan Genocide and watched the movie ‘Hotel Rwanda’, this was the first time that I learned about international peace and security issues which sparked a passion in me to learn about the world around me. With this new passion, I joined the Model UN Team for 2 years at Walden. This was the first time I learned about the United Nations.
At Walden, the relationship with teachers was very open and friendly. We had small class sizes and were on a first name basis, which took the levels of respect between teachers and students to be on a deeper level. With these experiences, I went into college with confidence to develop relationships with my professors and to not be afraid to advocate for myself. This has been essential in my career trajectory because networking is one of the most important if not the most important things, and I fully credit my experiences at Walden to building my confidence to walk into a room and spark a discussion with anyone. Also at Walden, the onus and trust was fully on the student to complete homework and go to class. With this mentality, Walden taught me not only to do the bare minimum, but to have the drive to want to be my best self, not because a teacher was telling me what I had to do. Speaking my mind in a respectful way is also something that I fully attribute to my time at Walden. We often held town hall meetings where students could voice their opinions to school staff and administration. Finally, Walden taught me how to care for the community, whether the annual thanksgiving food drive, make a difference day, and the many various volunteering activities we did inside and outside of the classroom. I fully believe that if it wasn’t for Walden, I would not have chosen a career focused around the betterment of the world around me.
Learn more about Zoe here: International studies, political science alumna Dahse earns 2024 UWO Outstanding Young Alumni Award