Student Spotlight: Monica Orillo

Monica Orillo is a second-year MAAS candidate at UH Mānoa. She spent her summer interning at the U.S. Department State as part of the Pickering Fellowship. At the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia, she worked on issues related to the Philippines, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore. Monica assisted at a conference for the Chiefs of Mission to American embassies in East Asia and the Pacific, helped host foreign delegations, and drafted statements for senior officials, including the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. She particularly enjoyed connecting her experiences at UHM to her work at State by helping plan an official’s visit to Honolulu and attending events at the East-West Center in DC.

Learn more about the Pickering Fellowship and other funding opportunities here.