Villanova junior Rita Sogoti has been awarded the prestigious Frederick Douglass-Daniel O’Connell Global Internship.
Out of about 600 total applicants, Sogoti was selected as one of only 12 students to participate in this summer abroad opportunity.
She was first selected through Villanova’s Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA) to be eligible to apply. The application process is highly selective and competitive. To apply, applicants must provide a video submission, supplementary essays, a letter of recommendation and a resume.
She was the only Villanovan selected for this summer’s program.
“I’m really open to culture,” Sogoti said. “I’m just excited.”
The Frederick Douglass-Daniel O’Connell Global Internship is an annual eight-week program in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded to commemorate the legacies of both Frederick Douglass and Daniel O’Connell.
After being emancipated, Douglass visited Ireland in 1846, where he encountered O’Connell, an Irish social reformer. They shared similar values, advocating for freedom and social justice. This internship program honors the influences they shared through their brief encounter.
The program is co-sponsored by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), the African American Irish Diaspora Network (AAIDN) and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland.
During her summer abroad, Sogoti will become immersed within Irish culture and living.
“Anything that has to do with culture, tradition, something new [outside] of my own culture, I’m always interested to learn,” Sogoti said. “So, like, their music, their kind of food, their favorite sports, their history, I’m all invested in that, so I’m looking forward to see all that.”
Students are placed in various internships around Dublin, depending on their skill sets and interests.
As of now, Sogoti is awaiting placement in her specific internship program. She will meet with her overseas advisor in the upcoming weeks to find out what she will do.
“I think I’m gonna mostly work in something that has to do with policy, policy change, social change, and how their [Ireland’s] way of immigration system works there, and how I can bring that here,” Sogoti said. “I think something along immigrating.”
Sogoti is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. She moved to the United States in 2015. She currently lives in Philadelphia.
Sogoti is quite aware of the challenges of her immigration journey, and she studies criminology at Villanova hoping to one day become an immigration lawyer.
Sogoti had always wanted to study abroad. Although she never planned where she would go or what she would study, she always knew she wanted to experience another academic environment.
While she will spend the bulk of her time in Dublin, the program will also include trips to Cork and Belfast.
In addition to interning at an Ireland-based company, the program’s 12 students will also attend lectures to learn more about Irish history and culture. Sogoti and her peers will also partake in extracurricular activities.
“I’m just ready to be surprised,” Sogoti said. “Literally, whatever’s there. I am just going to go with what’s there.”
Sogoti also hopes to do some independent travel, although she is not yet sure where she will go.
The program’s many components, including internship placement, academic lectures, meetings, extracurricular activities, airfare and housing, come at no cost. Students are also granted a living stipend.
The eight weeks begin on Friday, June 13, 2025. The program will conclude on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.
“I’m just really thankful and grateful to be one of the 12 students,” Sogoti said. “For me, it’s a blessing to be, as a first-generation student going to college, achieving what I have done, despite all the obstacles. This is big for me. I appreciate Villanova for promoting more attention to it. It’s a great experience that I’m actually looking forward to.”