St. Thomas senior Erin Engstran is spending her spring in Warsaw, Poland interning for the U.S. State Department before coming home for commencement in May.

Engstran, who wants to pursue a career in foreign affairs, applied two times for the competitive State Department internship before she was accepted. During that time, she interned around Minnesota for the U.S. government.

“It worked out perfectly for me because I had more experience. I was able to do those other internships in the United States before I was able to do this one,” Engstran said.

In the summer before her junior year and the fall of her senior year, Engstran interned in Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s office and Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office working with constituents.

“We help (constituents) if they an issue with the federal agencies, like if they have an issue with the IRS or a customs issue,” Engstran said.

In the fall of her junior year, she interned with Gov. Mark Dayton on his communications team doing press-related work, such as drafting tweets and Facebook posts.

After applying to the State Department internship for the second time for the summer before senior year, Engstran realized she would be graduating a semester early. She decided to apply for the spring 2018 program, which is less competitive than the summer.

“In the past, even the most talented students that I saw weren’t winning the internships because they are so competitive,” said Renee Buhr, a St. Thomas political science professor who has had Engstran in class.

Engstran was finally accepted and was placed at the U.S. Embassy in Poland.

“The (internship) that I’m doing now is the perfect fit for me because I want to be a foreign service officer someday,” Engstran said.

Engstran’s internship comes as Poland faces international condemnation for Holocaust legislation.

The new law, which went into effect March 1, makes it illegal for anyone in the world to accuse the Polish nation of being complicit under Nazi rule during World War II, putting the media and judiciary independence at risk.

“If Poland is successful in destroying the indepence of those two things, you could see really dictatorial governance,” Buhr said.

The biggest question right now, according to Buhr, is whether the Polish government is reverting to autocracy or not, but the connections are hard to make without an understanding of comparative politics and international relations.

“Someone who isn’t as well steeped in that knowledge might not see those connections as well as someone like Erin,” Buhr said. Engstran is double-majoring in political science and international studies and double-minoring in economics and French.

Engstran, who arrived in Poland on Feb. 24, finds the difference in media coverage between Poland and the U.S. to be the most interesting. She thinks U.S. media coverage is focused on how Poland’s new law affects Polish citizens’ freedom of speech as opposed to being focused on the law itself.

However, according to Engstran, freedom of speech is not viewed the same in other countries as it is in the U.S.

“Freedom of speech and freedom of expression is not absolutely 100 percent guaranteed by the Polish Constitution, so that’s a big difference compared to the United States,” Engstran said.

Although it may seem scary to some to be in a nation with so much political turmoil, for Engstran it’ll be useful as she pursues a career in foreign affairs.

“It’s going to be so useful for her because she’s well versed in comparative politics and international relations. She really knows the boundaries of what makes a state democratic,” Buhr said.

Besides her numerous internships and spending time in Poland and her two majors and minors, Engstran was involved in nine extra-curricular groups while in college, including Residence Hall Association, Dance Club, Academic Quiz Bowl, Delta Epsilon Sigma and others.

“I like to stay busy. Too much downtime freaks me out,” Engstran added.

After graduation, Engstran plans to work and then attend graduate school for a master’s degree in international affairs to further her dream in becoming a diplomat.

Althea Larson can be reached at lars2360@stthomas.edu