Delta State University biology major\u00a0Zack Odoms was recently selected as a 2016\u00a0Congressional Fellow for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi.<\/p>\n
Much like previous Delta State fellows who\u2019ve spent semesters in the nation\u2019s capital, Odoms\u00a0will gain firsthand experience working with one of Mississippi\u2019s most respected leaders.<\/p>\n
Beginning in early January, Odoms\u00a0will pack his\u00a0bags and get a taste of politics from inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. The program aims to provide a better understanding of the legislative process by serving on Cochran\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m really looking forward to traveling to our nation’s capital, sitting in on the election process, seeing the White House and all\u00a0the experiences this will provide me,” said Odoms, a Pascagoula native.”I’m extremely honored and humbled to be selected. I know this will be a great opportunity for my career in general.”<\/p>\n
The biology major said he was\u00a0excited to focus on\u00a0healthcare policies during his time in Washington, as any policy changes will directly impact the clients he will one day serve as a physical therapist.<\/p>\n
Odoms, currently enlisted in the U.S. Army, said he had respect for Cochran because of service in the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n
“I also have great respect for Sen. Cochran because he represents our country and our state,” he said. “I’m honored to learn from him. I know the experience will open doors for me.”<\/p>\n
Delta State has a long-running tradition of sending fellows to Washington. Davlon Miller, director of Delta State Career Services, orchestrated the committee to select this year\u2019s candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee felt strongly that Odoms\u00a0was the right candidate to represent the Delta and Delta State,\u201d said Miller. \u201cHe possesses a great deal of knowledge about our culture, and he\u00a0represents the green and white very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said the fellowship is funded through Delta State, the Delta Council and Staplcotn. Additionally, Odoms\u00a0will receive a stipend from Cochran\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
The Delta Council<\/a> is an area economic development organization representing the 18 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. The organization pioneers efforts to solve common problems and promote the development of the local economy.\u00a0Founded in 1921,\u00a0Staplcotn<\/a>\u00a0(Staple Cotton Cooperative Association) is the oldest and one of the largest cotton marketing cooperatives in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Delta State University biology major\u00a0Zack Odoms was recently selected as a 2016\u00a0Congressional Fellow for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi. Much like previous Delta State fellows who\u2019ve spent semesters in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":68611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,246],"tags":[996,662,464,998,951],"class_list":["post-68600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-academics","category-students","tag-congressional-fellow","tag-d-c","tag-students-2","tag-thad-cochran","tag-washington"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68600"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72949,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68600\/revisions\/72949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}