Grace Peterson didn’t know about the Hatfield School of Government or Portland State University (PSU) when she attended the Hatfield Futures series in 2023.  She was a junior in high school and had only ever considered attending the University of Oregon or Oregon State University.

Once she arrived at PSU, though, she fell in love. She was struck by the community, the resources, and the culture. She quickly realized that PSU was a university she could see herself attending. “I was sold.”

Hatfield Futures is a program that brings together high-school-aged youth from across Oregon to imagine the future of the state and propose projects that could help make these visions a reality. The program, offered through the National Policy Consensus Center at the Hatfield School, was Peterson’s first introduction to PSU.

“I’ve come back every year since that first year - as a participant, as a peer mentor or as an intern,” Peterson said. “It’s an amazing project that is incredibly useful for high school students.”

She knew almost immediately that she wanted to pursue public service and government, and she wanted to get her education at PSU. Since that first campus visit, Peterson’s PSU journey has been shaped by programs, centers, and people who have collaboratively led her to where she is today.  Now a busy junior, she is pursuing a degree in Political Science with a Law and Legal Studies option, along with a Black Studies certificate.

She was introduced initially to the idea of tackling problems in her community - and across the state - through collaboration and public service. She attended webinars and workshops and met people who were in the thick of it, trying to change the world. “Their commitment and optimistic beliefs inspired hope in me. Most of these topic experts focused on policy work, legislative, or community engagement. Talking with them made me realize how fundamental policy is, and I wanted to know more.”

What stood out was not simply what she was learning, but how she was learning it. Once enrolled at PSU, it was in her political science courses and because of her connections across the Hatfield School that Peterson encountered professors whose expertise was matched by their interest in their students. “They are really about talking and interacting with us, and you can tell they are happy to see engaged students,” Peterson said. “We weren’t just lectured at. We were genuinely taught through engagement.”

That emphasis on engagement carried beyond the classroom.

During her sophomore year, Peterson joined the PSU Vanguard, the university’s student newspaper. She is now a managing editor, helping lead a newsroom that continues to prioritize print journalism in an increasingly digital media landscape. Her work at the Vanguard also gave her another opportunity to connect the people and expertise she had encountered through the Hatfield School with a broader audience.

While taking a political science class with Professor Clucas she learned that after more than 30 years at PSU, it would be his final course before retirement. Peterson pitched and wrote an evergreen article about his retirement and the significant role he played at the Hatfield School.

For Peterson, experiences like that have become pieces of a larger picture: one opportunity leading to another, with people and programs providing connections along the way.

That work was recognized in 2026, when Peterson received the PSU Presidential Award for Community Service.  She was nominated by the Oregon Kitchen Table’s leaders, as they believed her ongoing commitment to the Hatfield Futures Project and other civic engagement opportunities made her a prime candidate.   

Now, as she looks toward her senior year, those connections have translated into options for what comes next. She is considering both a KATU news internship and an internship with a law firm. She believes both journalism and law are fields that intersect with policymaking.  

For Peterson, having options is part of the value of her PSU experience.

“Hatfield School students have a lot of opportunities because we’re so close to City Hall, and the judiciary office - it’s a hub for policy work and engagement,” she said. “The Hatfield School provides all the resources and the connections, including working with different professors who have careers and experience.”