Strolling between the majestic columns of the Longworth Home Workplace Constructing in Washington, DC, throughout the marble steps of the Capitol, and thru the miles of underground tunnels connecting the Capitol complicated, it’s simple to get swept up within the majesty of the Hill. That’s the place I spent the previous summer time as an intern within the Congressional workplace of Washington State Consultant Kim Schrier. Between the day by day sightings of Congresspeople and occasional breaks on the secret Dunkin’ Donuts situated beneath the Capitol complicated (sure, that’s actually a factor!), my internship was a whirlwind, to say the least.

I’ve been all in favour of politics for years, and am energetic on the state and native ranges. Each informally as an advocate, and in additional official roles on the Well being Care Authority and as an LGBTQ+ Commissioner with the Metropolis of Seattle, I’ve lengthy been excited in regards to the ways in which our political system might be harnessed to make actual change. And as a political science main, I’ve been desirous to see the political processes I had discovered about in school play out in actual time. So, I instantly jumped on the probability to intern in Congress, particularly for a member whose values I aligned with so intently. 

At solely 30 hours per week, my internship left me with loads of time to community on the Hill, and to absorb all that DC needed to provide. Within the three months I used to be there, I went to each DC Smithsonian along with seventeen different museums, and rented a automobile for weekend journeys to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the unique web site of the colony of Jamestown, and the Yorktown Battlefield. There’s no higher place to be for a historical past aficionado than the middle of so many moments in our nation’s historical past. And it was superb to expertise these sights with many fellow “Hilltern” pals.

However amidst this whirlwind, it was additionally simple to get overwhelmed. Whereas I used to be drafting memos, main excursions of the Capitol complicated, and networking, I used to be fairly actually within the epicenter of the fallout of main political occasions. My political science coursework solely considerably ready me for what it truly felt prefer to be within the heart of the motion.