Set Up for Success: Courtney Dickson
Meet SDSU students and recent graduates whose impressive resumes forecast bright futures.
“I want to make a lasting impact for the next generation.”
This article is one of five student profiles published in the summer 2017 issue of 360: The Magazine of San Diego State University.
With three internships, a study abroad month in Europe and membership in 15 student organizations under her belt, Courtney Dickson has crammed more learning into four years than many people do in a lifetime.
The newly graduated Aztec also double majored in political science and ISCOR, San Diego State University’s acclaimed program in international security and conflict resolution. It’s not surprising that she is headed to George Washington University Law School in the fall.
“An SDSU education is about service and leadership in addition to academics,” Dickson said. “You learn to work with people who have different understandings of what’s being taught in the classroom.”
Dickson is interested in international human rights law, an outgrowth of the work she did on campus through Sororities Invested in Survivor Support, Training and Ending Rape culture (SISSTER). As one of 11 founding members, she tabled, networked and made presentations to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses.
Dickson also made the cut for the 2015 Fred J. Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation. Her team of four won the $2,000 top prize to fund a project they developed and pitched—training Liberian women to make locally sourced laundry soap to sell in their community. Half the profits paid the trainees and half funded a program to provide sexual health education to teenage girls in Liberia.
Graduation has not tempered Dickson’s energy. Before law school, she’ll complete a summer internship with the U.S. Department of State.
