Having the opportunity to be an intern on Capitol Hill was one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences that I have had while in college. The knowledge that I gained about the federal government and the history of our nation’s founding have already helped me in the classes that I am currently taking. I had many different responsibilities throughout the summer, such as as answering phones, writing letters to constituents, going to briefings and taking notes, giving tours, and helping out with anything that the legislative staff with whatever they needed. I originally chose to complete this internship because of my great interest in government, and to work at the federal level was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Some of the more interesting experiences that occurred while I was as an intern was when I was tasked to answer phone calls. This summer there were many different issues that inspired many people to petition more action from their Congressman, some petitioned much more admittedly than others. I feel that these phone calls helped me to better communicate with others, especially when they weren't the most respectful. I learned how passionate many of the people of Utah can be for a wide range of issues. I also learned what action Congress considers when it comes to responding to constituents and listening to the concerns of the people within a given district.

Congressman Chris Stewart’s office treats their interns very well, they were flexible with schedules and encouraged us to attend briefings, hearings, and intern lectures in order to make sure that we received the most that we could out of our experience. One of the most interesting briefings that I was assigned to go to was called “The Risk of Economic Engagement with Iran” which was put on by the Foreign Affairs Committee. There they had three experts debate the pros and cons of becoming more economically engaged with Iran. This briefing is where I learned that debates on certain issues tend to lean towards the party in power, while the minorities opinion is sometimes downplayed or glossed over. Many of those who are full paid staff were once interns on Capitol Hill so their insights on how to make the most of my internship helped out a lot. Their advice ranged from the most efficient and impressive tour routes of the Capitol to the best places to eat in D.C. One of the things that I appreciated the most was when our Chief of Staff would sit with the interns and teach us about different aspects of the federal government, like how the appropriations process works throughout the year or what the federal register is and what it contains.

Interns would be tasked with different projects from time to time and one given to me was to contact all of the high schools in the Utah Second district in order to obtain the names and addresses of the graduating seniors. After the names were obtained, I created a mailer to send out a letter of congratulations from the congressman to each of them. Another project that I would work on from time to time would be to identify members of the Appropriations committee on a given bill and create an excel document that would highlight the “Yea’s” and “Nay’s” thereby helping the legislative staff when it came to future bills.

Giving tours of the Capitol building was my favorite job, especially when the constituents that I was giving the tour too were from Cedar City or had ties to SUU. These tours reminded me of history that I had forgotten and taught me so much more about the beginnings of our nation. In what is now called Statuary Hall, which is where the House of Representatives used to meet, there are plaques on the floor of all of the legislators that became president at their old desk locations. President Abraham Lincoln's desk location was always a stop on the tours I gave, because of his importance in helping to keep this nation together during the Civil War. Overall my experience was amazing and I am even considering going back to D.C. to work one day.

Along with all of the historical knowledge and legislative experience I gained, I was also able to better develop my leadership skills. As I mentioned above there were times when all of the interns did not get along, I would take these opportunities to help settle disputes and keep the peace in these situations. Because I generally got along with everyone in the office it was a little easier for me to mediate and help those around me. I also had to take initiative in deciding what projects I was going to work on first, giving priority to those things that the legislative staff needed in a timely manner. This not only helped me to better my daily organizational skills with my schedule but also to figure out what is most important to Chris Stewart’s office in what they need to accomplish. We also had the opportunity to go to many different forums and intern discussions while in D.C. and many of them were Congressmen and women discussing leadership. One such forum was with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy. He discussed his story in how he went from a Capitol Hill intern to a small business owner and then a congressman. He told us how when he had first applied for the internship he didn’t get it, but once he built his resume up a little he was able to get the internship. After his experience as an intern he was hired as a part of his congressman’s staff. He later took his congressman’s place in congress after he retired. This experience along with many other key note speakers helped to show me that if you put your mind to it and work hard enough, you can achieve any goal that you truly desire.

In reflecting on this internship and EDGE project that I was able to complete I can see that I was able to attain my overall goals that I set at the beginning of this experience. I learned a whole lot more about the federal government and its functions and was able to make many different connections that could potentially help me get a job in the future. I am honestly glad that SUU was able to help me obtain this internship and that I probably would not have been able to get if was not at SUU. The experience that I was able to gain will most definitely help me in my future endeavors. When it comes to what EDGE or the EDGE program means to me, I feel that it is an important push in the right direction to gain experience in something that one is interested in that could help them in the future. Overall I would say that my EDGE internship experience was a success and that I thoroughly enjoyed it.