Politics

Inside with an Intern

When first arriving up in DC, I didn?t really know what to expect. I?d heard from a number of past Washington interns what I would generally be doing during my next month and a half, but I didn?t realize the number of experiences I would get to enjoy. I thought it would be fairly eye-opening for me to get to see a ?behind the scenes? look at what a Congressman and his or her office does on a daily basis. I wanted to see more than what is shown on C-SPAN.

I had decided back in late December that I wanted to get experience in some government work to see if it would be of any interest to me after I graduate. July was hectic and pretty stressful. My job entailed a number of things- from answering phones and opening the mail to giving tours of the Capitol. The long hours were tough at first, but I got used to it. The Capitol tours ended up teaching me as much as it taught constituents to whom I gave them (or at least I hope they did). Every tour got a little more interesting as I continuously picked up fact along the way, which I usually picked up from overhearing other tour guides. The offices got pretty intense as August approached, with everyone ready for the recess that came along with it. When August hit, everyone and everything relaxed and slowed down a bit, but getting work done was still a priority.

During August, events like Army Day are held. Such an event is setup to show a Congressional office staff member what armed forces appropriations go towards. Somehow, I was fortunate enough to be the only one who was able to attend the function from Congressman Conaway?s office. That day I took a bus over to the Aberdeen Test Center, where I was able to shoot both developmental and active military weapons including .50 caliber machine-guns and sniper rifles, grenade launchers and new shotguns. After that, we hit the test track to drive the off-road vehicles used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let?s just say it was about the coolest thing I?ve ever done.

This was an overall great experience and would encourage anyone with an interest in government to do this. Brett Bergman-Intern, Rep. Mike Conaway

Full post as published by Mike Conaway's Blog on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).