Heather Hamption '06, College of Saint Benedict

A Policy Maker in the Making

This summer Heather Hamption experienced first-hand what she has spent almost six years studying. Hamption, a 2006 graduate of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), interned in Geneva at “The South Centre,” an intergovernmental organization of developing countries. Over the course of her internship Hamption researched agricultural trade and sat in on meetings of the United Nations (which, along with the World Trade Organization, is on her list of dream jobs). 

Hamption is currently a second year graduate student at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

With degrees from CSB and the University of Minnesota, she is on the right track to making her dream a reality. Hamption, a political science major with an international relations focus and a double minor in French and economics, credits the professors at CSB with encouraging her to expand her interest in international relations. “I came to the Humphrey Institute with a strong economics background, which gives me an academic advantage. If my professors at St. Ben’s hadn’t encouraged me, I never would have taken economics on my own.”

A leader at heart, Hamption also values her time on the CSB Student Senate. “It was fun getting to actually put through some changes that students actually wanted,” Hamption said. Working as a student leader also gave Hamption “more confidence in speaking in front of people and being more assertive.”

Trading in the farmland of CSB for the bustle of Minneapolis didn’t mean Hamption lost any of her connections to the college. She still meets with her old political science professors, and relied on them to write letters of recommendation for her application to the Humphrey Institute.

Hamption remains tied to CSB — she lives with two of her friends from college and names the “sense of community” as one of the best things about CSB. “I thought I would be more homesick than I was. Leaving my parents on the first day was the hardest day of my life. It surprised me how easy it was to make friends and become a part of the community.”

Although Hamption works as a statistics teaching assistant and tutors in the Multicultural Center at the U of M, she doesn’t spend all her time in the classroom. Trained in classical ballet from the age of five, she still makes time to dance at the St. Paul City Ballet.   

What surprised you the most about college: “The thing that surprised me the most was how easy it was to make friends – it was easier than I expected to become a part of the community.”

Favorite Web site: The Billboard Top 100 Website and YouTube.
 
Favorite Book: Native Son, by Richard Wright. “I like that it shows the societal struggle of an African American man — for its time it was a really forward book.”

Hero: “My grandma. I didn’t go to preschool. Instead, my parents would drop me off at her house. I spent three or four years with her during the day. She’s a really strong woman.”

Why it is important to go to college: “Aside from the fact that it opens doors in life, college gives you a different perspective on the world. You meet so many different people in college. You leave your comfort zone. Diversity on college campuses is so important because it contributes to that experience.”

More diverse alumni