As an intern on Capitol Hill for Congressman Sam Farr, I am experiencing a completely new and sometimes intimidating life-style, and it has been quite a change from my northern California life. My positive attitude and outgoing personality have enabled me to enjoy my time meeting fellow ambitious interns and influential legislators while pursuing my goals of working in public service. Additionally, living in D.C. has given me an opportunity to be more independent.
After attending the Leon Panetta Institute's Lecture Series at California State University Monterey Bay for two years, I was eager to attend any and all briefing held here on “The Hill”. I have attended briefings and followed up with reports to our office’s Legislative Assistants (L.A.s) on such topics as AIDS, animal welfare, sexual assault in the military, women in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and foreign affairs. What I enjoy most about the briefings are the 1-2 hour crash-course lessons on an issue; I am constantly eager to learn more, in and out of the classroom.
Attending briefings is also helpful when I respond to constituents’ phone calls and written correspondence regarding legislation. For example, I attended a briefing on world hunger where I learned about PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which I was able to mention in my constituent letter about the Mexico City Policy lifted by President Obama. The Mexico City Policy was enacted by President Reagan to disallow the U.S. Government to fund any global family planning organization that in anyway supports women in the decision to receive an abortion.
I take advantage of the opportunity to respond to constituents’ communications and view it as another chance to learn more. I enjoy spending time researching the important details of an issue in order to better understand the topic and write an appropriate and useful response for constituents’ issues. When corresponding, I write on behalf of my Congressman, Mr. Farr; I feel this introduction to political writing will serve me well in college as I am considering a political science major.
I had no idea that an internship would provide me with such a learning experience; it has shown me how to live on my own and be independent, take public transportation, and hold (an entry level) professional job. Since my stay, I have further developed my ability to handle myself in a professional manner, how to research more efficiently from my training through the Congressional Research Service, and how to prepare concise and informative reports from briefings.
I feel like I have grown so much since I arrived in Washington. I helped organize our office’s Congressional briefing for Peace Corps Week when Harris Wofford, Tim Shriver, and three Members of Congress spoke to Congressional staffers to encourage the passage of Congressman Farr’s H.R. 1066, which will double the size of the Peace Corps. Since the briefing, 83 Members have co-signed the legislation.
Congressman Farr’s strong advocacy for the Peace Corps which stems from his time volunteering in Colombia inspired me to consider the Peace Corps for myself. As an applicant to the NSLI international studies program through the U.S. State Department, I was recently notified I am one of the applicants selected for an interview. The NSLI program sends students to foreign countries to learn rarely taught languages that will help me broaden my perspective.
I want the ability to communicate with a wider range of people for not only social purposes but for a future career in public or foreign policy. Becoming fluent in another language would give me more opportunity to meet people or travel, and it would make me a more desirable employee for the careers I will pursue. Working in a Congressional office, I see our foreign affairs Legislative Assistant taking the most interesting calls and attending countless engaging meetings that affect our nation and the world. One day, I would like to be back on “The Hill” working in foreign affairs utilizing my new language skills.
No matter the subject, the U.S. will always communicate with other countries– the world is and will always be interconnected. When I have the ability to speak with a representative from a foreign country in their native language, I have the chance to bridge gaps between the U.S. and a foreign country so the world may come closer to being more united as one. The United States can never escape the fact that it depends and thrives on international communications, trade, and other social exchanges and the more prepared I can be to communicate with people around the world, the better prepared I will be to serve my country in foreign affairs.
From a young high school graduate, I feel like I have bloomed into an independent “Hill” staffer. When the California district office staffers came to DC during recess, I managed the office on my own for a day while the DC staffers showed the California staffers around the city. That was a turning point for me; I had matured enough and felt confident in myself enough to keep the office on “The Hill” alive without ‘adult’ supervision and so found the responsible adult in myself.
