A self-professed “local girl from Hawaii,” Veronica Chiu has career aspirations as expansive as her knowledge of the world.

The 2007 Sacred Hearts Academy graduate is one of an elite 30 prospective Foreign Service officers selected for the prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, which provides support for graduate study, two internship placements and the opportunity to represent the United States overseas.

It’s heady stuff indeed for a young woman whose first trip to the mainland came when she flew to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins University nearly a decade ago.

“I’m very excited to be able to fulfill a dream that’s been 10 years in the making: my dream of becoming a diplomat,” Chiu said. “It’s long been my aspiration to have a career in public service, and becoming a Foreign Service officer combines my passion for international affairs and civic duty while also being able to live abroad and explore new cultures. I’m absolutely looking forward to this new adventure.”

Chiu, who grew up in Waikiki and Moiliili, credits her education at Sacred Hearts and her involvement with the school’s Pacific Asian Affairs Council chapter with piquing her interest in international affairs and foreign policy.

Chiu joined the club as a freshman and later served as its chapter president. Along the way she participated in the Model United Nations program, Quiz Bowl and other academic endeavors that further stoked her desire to pursue a career as a diplomat.

“My time at Sacred Hearts and work with PAAC have been instrumental to my successes and to leading me to where I am today,” Chiu said. “As a high-schooler these experiences opened my eyes to the breadth of opportunities available to me and really emboldened me to pursue a path that might be considered atypical.”

At Johns Hopkins, Chiu majored in international studies and East Asian studies. She also spent a semester studying Mandarin in Beijing, agreeing to an exacting “language pledge” under which she vowed to speak only Mandarin for the duration of the program.

Chiu joined the Council on Foreign Relations, the influential Washington, D.C., think tank, after graduation. In her current role as associate director of the Independent Task Force Program, she helps to convene high-level working groups to provide guidance to U.S. policymakers on issues ranging from climate change to North Korea’s nuclear program.

“Every year there’s a new project, so you get to become a sort of mini-expert in very niche issues,” she said. “In many ways I’ve become a generalist. There is a new and refreshing aspect to each project that helps to keep the passion alive.”

Chiu also serves as chairwoman of the Young Professionals Committee of Global Kids, a nonprofit youth development program based in Washington, D.C.

Through the Rangel program, named after the New York congressman, Chiu will work for a member of Congress on international issues before being dispatched overseas to get hands-on experience with U.S. foreign policy and the work of the Foreign Service. Upon completion of the program, Chiu will be eligible to work as a U.S. diplomat.

Chiu said the opportunity is a “dream come true,” but she is also realistic about the path she has chosen for herself.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice, especially if you want to have a family,” she said. “But I want to live abroad. I want to live on the ground and give my advice to those in Washington to help shape policy.

“It sounds corny, but I want to make a difference.”

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.