Marshalltown High School senior Claire Runquist will have plenty of learning to do before she heads off to college this fall - and she is ready for the challenge.
Runquist was recently selected for a prestigious internship with the World Food Prize Foundation and will be spend eight weeks in India this summer beginning in mid-June.
She will work at AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center in Patancheru, Hyderabad, India.
Runquist said her internship will involve work in nutrition and family gardens. She said she was overwhelmed when she found out she was selected.
"I think it's the most excited I've ever been in my life," Runquist said. "I started screaming and crying."
Runquist is one of just 16 students who were selected to receive the Borlaug Ruan International Internship this summer. To be eligible, she submitted her school transcripts and essays on ways to stop world hunger. She then participated in an interview after she was named a finalist.
All of her expenses will be paid for by the World Food Prize Foundation. For someone who has never even been out of the country before, Runquist is expecting to learn a great deal during the trip.
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be completely life-changing," she said. "It's going to be terrifying and thrilling at the same time."
Her parents, Mark Runquist and Linda Barnes, have a farm in rural Melbourne where they grown their own food, so it appears their interests have rubbed off on their daughter.
"It's a great opportunity for her," Mark Runquist said.
After the trip, she has plans to attend Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com
