My internship has benefited my future career because it has expanded my networking pool. One of the most important lessons I learned at the office was to make myself known in the spaces that I want to be in. In this case, the space would be the legal field. Representatives in the office knew of this goal and did their best to provide me with opportunities that lead to amazing learning and networking experience. This would normally be in the form of information interviews and building tours. I would definitely say that my internship tied in with my major of study. As a political science major, interning for the Senator provided a lot of opportunities to learn about federal policy and operations. Even with constituent calls, I learned about federal policy that is of most concern for constituents in Nevada. In order to be successful in this internship, you would have to have a basic understanding of how the government functions/some federal policy. Some constituents call about federal policy and you have to be informed on what they are talking about/ have the ability to research the issue. If a constituent believes you are not educated on the topic, it could place a bad impression on the office. Overall, I do not believe that I would ever be involved in the political sphere, either as a politician or a part of the state team. However, I am very interested in policy surrounding immigration and women's rights. I would love to know more about the legislative part of the law in those two areas. If I chose to pursue a career in this field, I would definitely need to have knowledge of the operations of federal agencies and become more knowledgeable on federal policy. I also believe that I would need to be compassionate and have the ability to think critically in order to solve the issues of the constituents. I would say my one piece of advice for incoming interns would be to never be scared of failing. A lot of the success that I experienced in this internship came from giving it my all with no regrets. At times, it may be difficult to deal with belligerent constituents and it may even feel like you do not belong in the political sphere, but I would recommend to keep trying and never dwell on your mistakes.
(I'm on the far right)
Congratulations for completing such a competitive experience! I'm glad to hear you learned a lot and are still interested in policy! Excellent!