Where are they now? Lesley Dudden

After leaving Perkins County, Lesley Dudden has spent many years experiencing the world as well as studying and working to change it.

Dudden, a 2007 graduate of Perkins County High School, is the daughter of the late Larry Dudden and late Karla Dudden, a former Grant Elementary Middle School teacher.

After graduation she attended Nebraska Wesleyan University where she studied political science and global studies.

Thanks to her professors, Dudden was pushed to expand her “comfort zone” and apply for several prestigious scholarships.

The encouragement paid off when Dudden received an award from the State Department to study Turkish in Turkey for a summer.

“That was the hardest summer of my life,” Dudden said.

On top of never spending an extended amount of time outside the country, Dudden was the youngest in the program.

“It was intense,” she explained, claiming she learned more about herself and the world than she did Turkish.

“That summer changed my life.”

After completing the summer program, Dudden remained in Istanbul to study an additional semester.

The following semester she joined Wesleyan University’s D.C. internship program where she worked in Washington D.C. on human rights issues with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In her final year at Wesleyan, she received another scholarship from the U.S. Department of Defense to return to Turkey and study for a year.

Dudden then went on to study for her master’s degree at George Washington University, which took her to Berlin for eight months of the two-year program to study European security politics. 

After returning to the States, Dudden worked in Washington D.C. on US-Turkey issues as part of a think tank.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Dudden said. “It’s hard even for me to keep track.”

After leaving her job in Washington D.C., Dudden spent one-and-a-half months traveling through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Antarctica, before making a stop in Germany, where her boyfriend resides.

When she returns to the United States, she plans to live in Denver, where she will work at William Ohs, a business she owns with her cousins, focusing on brand relations, PR and marketing.

As a self-proclaimed nomad, Dudden enjoys traveling in her free time and is an avid reader.

Dudden explained that growing up in a small town made her “hungry” and taught her to never take any of the opportunities placed in front of her for granted.

“It also gave me a different perspective and understanding of America than my peers in D.C.,” she said. 

As a student at PCS, Dudden claims the most impactful activities she took part in were FFA and Speech.

“They gave me the most confidence and skill sets in public speaking and leadership that I still use,” she said. 

Dudden also praised her teachers and the impact they had on her education. 

“They gave me support and perspective,” she explained. “The community is so fortunate to have them.”

Dudden loved being a part of the countryside and spent countless hours riding horses around her family’s farm as a young girl in Perkins County.

“I miss the smells of spring and summer and seeing the crops grow and the colors change,” she said.

Looking ahead, Dudden hopes to be in Denver for at least a year, but won’t be surprised if she ends up back in Washington D.C. at some point. 

“I’ve always tried not to pin myself down too much,” Dudden explains.

One of her favorite quotes by Ray Bradbury guides her: “You’ve got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.”

To those growing up in Perkins County, she offers the following advice:

“Explore and fall in love with as many things as you can. Don’t define yourself by any one thing...especially in high school.

“Most importantly – don’t be afraid to take risks. All the things I’ve done started off with putting myself out there. It’s easy to talk about all the awesome things, but for every amazing opportunity I’ve had, there have been many more disappointments.”