Morgan Seagrave ’22 — I can’t bring myself to share about my internship experience without first showing my appreciation to those who helped to make it possible. So, I would like to begin by thanking the Wabash Public Policy Project (WPPP)for funding my internship, which allowed me to accept my internship in Washington D.C. It is a very expensive place to live, and without the funds provided by WPPP, I do not know that I would have been able to pursue this dream of an internship. Furthermore, I would like to thank Lewis McCrary for his hard work with the WPPP and for helping with my internship search, the application process, and the housing search. Lewis really went above and beyond to help me and others secure great internships this summer.
In my role as a legislative intern in Senator Mike Braun’s office in Washington D.C., I was able to work on a number of projects. What I enjoyed so much about the internship is the fact that so much of the role is about reading the news and keeping up with current events in politics as well as doing research. I was also able to further develop some soft skills by working in an office that involves a lot of networking and dealing with lobbyists and constituents. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace of D.C., constantly meeting politically driven people like myself, and running into famous politicians. It was also a lot of fun to meet up with the many Wabash alumni that reside in D.C. Probably my favorite experience of the internship though, would be all of us interns eating breakfast with Senator Braun in a restaurant in the U.S. Capitol Building, especially given what had happened at the Capitol earlier this year following the presidential election.
Diving more into my duties as an intern, it basically ran the gamut. On several occasions, I wrote letters back to concerned constituents that wanted responses to their questions regarding Senator Braun’s stance on a certain policy. Another duty I had was answering phone calls from constituents that either had complaints or wanted Senator Braun to support/oppose a certain piece of legislation. That responsibility definitely put me to the test, because constituents were often very passionate on the phone about certain policies/issues, and I had to be patient and calm with them in order to address their concerns. I believe my work as a Democracy Fellow with Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse really helped me when speaking to constituents on the phone. The bulk of my work, however, involved researching government documents and news articles in order to get information about different subjects and then make policy recommendations in hopes of Senator Braun proposing legislation based on my findings. All in all, this internship was incredible. I learned a lot, and it helped me get one step closer to figuring out what I want to do after I graduate.
