Internship season, this time on Capitol Hill!
When I imagined my life on Capitol Hill. I think I must have imagined reporters running around, cameras everywhere, senators running around and everything being completely hectic. Now granted, a lot of that stuff does happen, actually pretty much all of that does happen but not on a day to day basis. Basically, the Hill is both as exciting and not as exciting as you would think. Overall the entire experience, getting to see the work in action, getting to be a part of the work is really exciting if you're a government nerd (like I claim to be).
However, day to day I do find myself thinking, heyyy, I kinda have some time to kill. Of course, if you turn on CNN or MSNBC or Fox (please don't turn on Fox) you'd never think that there is some calmness on the Hill, but as in intern especially, you're not living the Hill life that is on tv (but not gonna lie it's still pretty great).
So, how did I get a "coveted" internship on the Hill?
Let me tell you.
So the best way to get an internship on Capitol Hill is to apply through your own congressperson, if you go to their websites then they will have information on their sessions and deadlines. Congresspeople love to have interns from their district because it looks good and the interns will have some connection to the place constituents may talk to them about (but mostly because it looks good for them). I actually did not get my internship through my congressperson but instead I went through the House Vacancy listerve which lists internships that are open. You can subscribe here. I chose the congresswoman I currently work for because I thought she was cool, she made history as the youngest black woman in congress and also we have the same name. You should know who she is by now…
I submitted my resume and waited and was pretty excited when I got called in for an interview. Well I thought I got called IN for an interview… Really my interview was supposed to be on the phone, but as excited as I was and because I was already going to be in D.C. for my other internship showed up at the office. It was embarrassing. But the woman who interviewed me was really great and we had a great conversation about service and about being a black woman in politics. Afterwards I sent the most thankful thank you letter I've ever sent because she still interviewed me AND she gave me great advice for finding other ways to get internships like this such as through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. A few weeks later I learned that I had gotten the job!
My first week was in short, crazy. On the first day a group called ADAPT which advocated for persons with disabilities came into the office and staged a sit in to try and get the congresswoman to sponsor a bill. They came into the office, many in wheelchairs, filled it up and told our staff assistant (who takes care of most administrative tasks and practically runs the office) that they would be sitting in the office until the congresswoman would co-sponsor their bill. They began filming and telling their stories, and maybe I'm a sucker, but they sold me on it pretty quickly. Not only that but I was moved by the way that they had taken action and committed to this sit in. They sat in the office for hours but they were eventually successful. To me it was great to see people actually exercising their rights and it working! That's what democracy is all about.
My next few days didn't get any less crazy. My representative questioned the acting homeland security secretary and the hearing got heated. This resulted in a lot of angry calls to the office. Some were politely disagreeing, some were not-so-politely disagreeing and others where downright nasty and vile. Picking up the phone to hear someone calling a CONGRESSPERSON a wh**e and a "nappy headed n----" is honestly heart-breaking. We love to say how much progress we've made as a country and how progressive and accepting we have become but the truth is there is still a lot of hate, racism and misogyny in America. Soon, those days were over and I settled into more of a routine in the office.
The main role of interns on Capitol Hill tends to be more administrative. Some of the main tasks are giving tours of the capitol (I got lost on my first one), sorting the mail, and going to briefings that staffers don't have time for. A lot of this seems menial, but I've learned that productivity really is key and in doing these smaller tasks interns are really helping the office run. The biggest emphasis is answering the phones. The phones are essentially the direct line between the office and their constituents. Constituents call to express their concerns and comments to the congresswoman and as an intern your main job isn't to respond but to log their comments and pass them along. I personally hate talking on the phone so at first I was feeling very nervous about being on the phone all the time. I quickly learned that the key to the phone is just making sure that the constituent feels heard and knows that their comment matters to the congressperson (even if it is something you know they would be against). In my first week, I was thrown into answering calls almost non-stop, so I adjusted pretty quickly. I've had to do a lot of the more administrative tasks but I've also had the opportunity to work on really cool events and projects like writing speeches for the congresswoman.
Overall my experience on the hill so far has been really great, I am enjoying it a lot and learning a lot. I'm especially learning a lot about how to turn this experience into a job when I graduate! Which is of course the goal of any internship.
Next blog post I will have more about the experience and some tips for anyone who is considering an internship on the hill. I will especially focus on the experience of the black intern on the hill, because the hill is a very, very, white place and sometimes that can be hard.
On that note,
Vote Lauren 2036 <3
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