Sheyann (shy-ann) “Shey” Barnett is a proud first-generation Jamaican American from the South Bronx. What started off as a genuine curiosity about the world, its diverse peoples, and colorful languages as a shy third grader led Sheyann to embark on many domestic and international adventures.

Sheyann graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in International Comparative Studies and Korean Studies in May 2021. As a 2019 DukeEngage South Korea participant, she taught North Korean defectors and migrant multicultural children in Seoul. She later returned to South Korea as a study-abroad student at Yonsei University in the fall of her junior year. The following spring, she studied abroad in the United Kingdom at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Upon graduating, she earned a Fulbright South Korea English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant and returned to South Korea for the fourth time in 2022. As an ETA, Sheyann taught English to elementary students in Gangwon-do. Her Fulbright experience is one of her most formative, because of the memories she made with her students and host family using her highly proficient skills in Korean, a linguistic feat that she'd begun a decade earlier as a high school freshman.

Sheyann is a 2023 Charles B. Rangel Fellow and is deeply passionate about human rights and the intersection between global health, education, and displacement crises. She is excited to become a U.S. diplomat after graduating from the GHD program in 2025. Outside of academia, Shey loves cooking, traveling, doing TikTok dances, listening to cultural music, reading, watching romantic comedies, and shopping.

Summer Internship

Interning in the Political-Economic section at Embassy Lusaka this summer was an eye-opening experience that touched my heart and sharpened my understanding of diplomacy. My work centered on human rights, particularly LGBTQIA rights, and I engaged with the vital need to support Zambian democratic institutions to promote stability and prevent democratic backsliding in the SADC region. As Zambia faced an unprecedented drought, water rationing, and extended load shedding, I witnessed the impact these crises had on everyday life, underscoring the importance of resilient health and education systems to enhance quality of life. Strengthening the U.S.-Zambian security partnership is a crucial U.S. objective, and I gained a clearer understanding of our complex, and evolving role in advancing regional peace. This experience solidified my belief that U.S. foreign service officers must grasp the complexities of development, as real change comes from understanding the lived realities of people and reflecting that in mutually beneficial foreign policy. It reaffirmed my lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. diplomat, reigniting my passion to serve and advocate on behalf of my country.