Sydney Long is originally from Springfield, Missouri where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Translation. During her undergraduate degree, she studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain. In this time, she volunteered at Hello English, during which she facilitated class discussions, and provided students with cultural knowledge of America. She also took courses at the University of Salamanca while taking classes at her home university to complete her degree a year early. She was awarded a place on the Dean’s list in her last two semesters. Upon graduation, she was accepted into the University of Denver. Currently, she is obtaining her master’s in International Studies with a certificate in Homeland Security, specialization in Intelligence, and area specialty in North American Defense. In her studies, she has completed numerous courses from FEMA, conducted THIRA reports for local and state municipalities, and researched Russia’s chemical weapons threats to Russian Federation messaging regarding the “Strategy for Developing the Russian Arctic Zone and Ensuring National Security through 2035”. Along with her studies, she is interning at NORAD and USNORTHCOM in the J39 directorate.