Alumna Spotlight | Akaysha Palmer ’18

Akaysha's Story

Akaysha Palmer ’18 is a Bronx native born to Jamaican parents. As a Cathedralite, Akaysha had wide-ranging interests, but global history especially fascinated her. She partook in Teens Take the City at Vanderbilt YMCA, an experience which piqued her interest in government work. After school, she began to participate in YMCA Global Teens, a leadership development and service learning program that promotes civic engagement and a deeper understanding of social issues, culminating with a summer service abroad experience. Akaysha was selected for the Global Teens trip and traveled to Medellín, Colombia—and she and her fellow group members actually left their phones at home! Being fully immersed in the culture without the distraction of her phone helped Akaysha to think more clearly about public service and the possibility of working for the UN or the government. Akaysha was then selected for an internship program for the YMCA to work at a soup kitchen, for which she previously had applied for and been rejected; through this transformative internship, she learned the importance of persistence (as she applied again after being denied the first time!)grew in empathy as she engaged a lot with low income and homeless individuals and guests, and became familiar with the nonprofit world and development. The combination of Akaysha’s experience abroad and the hours she spent volunteering after work with the Hot Meals Program ignited her passion for public service. Driven by her desire to learn about how the world functions, Akaysha attended Seton Hall University and earned her B.S. in Diplomacy and International Relations with a minor in Spanish. 

Akaysha worked hard to invest in her passion for international relations during college, including helping to found a black student international relations club. She was also selected for the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, which included a domestic internship on Capitol Hill and an overseas internship in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. Through the Rangel Fellowship, Akaysha received financial support to go to Columbia University for graduate school, where she earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA), with a concentration in Urban and Social Policy. This July, Akaysha joined the U.S. Foreign Service as part of the centennial class, as the U.S. Foreign Service celebrates 100 years of American diplomacy this year!

Advice for Current Cathedralites

“The biggest thing is to take risks. We take a lot of time worrying about opportunities that are new or unfamiliar with us. I grew up in the Bronx, and no one in my family has gone on to do anything like this. By doing the internships I did, starting the clubs I did, and studying what I did in college, I have blazed a trail for people in my family who could be interested in foreign affairs. I decided to do something new, and it wasn’t easy. I have a lot of support from my family, and when I applied for those internships in high school, I pushed myself to apply and take that risk. The service internship at the soup kitchen denied me the first time, but the next year, despite my young age, I took some lessons I learned from the first time around, reapplied, and was selected. There have been many things I have or haven’t been selected for. Everyone is here for a purpose, and you may not know that purpose, but you have to take risks to keep looking for it. High school is a tough time, there are lots of growing pains and sometimes you can feel lost, but you have to persevere and seek out what you find interesting and keep pursuing that and see where it takes you!”

Currently, Akaysha lives in Arlington, Virginia. She has been selected to move next year to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to serve as a U.S. Diplomat. Akaysha is so grateful for the guidance and encouragement from her CHS teachers, especially Sister Cecelia and Ms. Myrie. We are so proud of Akaysha and wish her the very best as she trains and studies Arabic this year in preparation to represent the United States (and Cathedral) abroad in Riyadh next year! We look forward to welcoming her home to Cathedral to speak to our students when she is in NYC!