SUU Students in our Nation's Capitol.
November 8th, 2016, Cedar City, Utah.
It was the day after graduation that my flight was booked to depart from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington D.C.. Three months prior I had been interviewed and then selected to be an intern for Congressman Chris Stewart in his D.C. offices. My responsibilites as an intern would be to help constituents from Utah's 2nd congressional district with their political views and then pass those views onto the Congressman. My internship was going to last between May 2nd until August 6th this summer.This internship would not only help fulfill two different University classes for me, but it would also help give me experience with the federal government as well as a network that will help me with my future goals.
Interns on Capitol Hill come from all 50 states, most from Universities and some from High Schools, to work for a time for their Senator or Representative. This summer Southern Utah University saw the most interns that they have ever sent out, four total working for two Senators, a Representative, and the House Committee on Public Lands. Interns are most often tasked with constituent relations which includes giving Capitol tours, answering phones, and writing letters. Capitol tours were a great way for interns to learn more about the history behind the nations legislative building and then passing that history onto those who came to visit, and it was one of my favorite things to do as an intern. This summer saw several different important issues for the American people, one of the big ones was gun violence. Democratic Representatives gathered on the House floor at one point to begin a sit in until their Republican colleagues agreed to bring a bill to do something about the rising violence that many Americans have been faced with. We received many calls as a result of this sit in, with many people who were conscerned with the current gun laws. As an intern I was also able to work on special projects that Congressman Stewart's gave me, one of them was to gather high school Senior's names and addresses so that the Congressman could write them a letter, I was also tasked with sending the letters out.
This internship, as mentioned before, was not just for fun, I was also able to receive academic credit for it. At Southern Utah University every student is required to complete some sort of internship or project that pushes them outside of the classroom. This program is called EDGE. EDGE projects range from internships to community service to starting a club on campus, anything that the student is interested in can be an EDGE project. This program helps student gain experience out in the world and they can learn from that experience. Many times jobs or careers can come out of an EDGE project.
As my internship has come to a close and I have since reflected on my experience, I felt that my time in D.C. was very successful. I was able to network with many different people and have even received a letter of recommendation from my boss. I was able to learn a lot about the legislative process and the ins and outs of how Congress works these days. I was also able to make some pretty great friends and learn about a potential career path that I could take in the future if I desire to do so.###
By:
Eric Davis
(602)-515-6418