Alexandria was a Parliamentary Intern for The Scottish Parliament during Winter 2026.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
I was assigned to and worked with a specific member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) and his team. My internship was interesting as I came during the parliament's election year; so the first half of my internship felt completely different from the second half. During the first half I did more parliamentary work: research, writing press releases, creating briefs about visiting dignitaries, etc. The main impact of my work was on my assigned MSP himself as I helped him in his everyday duties. The second half of my internship was centered on my MSP's re-election campaign. I helped prepare and deliver survey letters, made walk routes, and guided volunteers in canvassing activities in order to collect voter data. This half of the experience is where I really impacted the team I worked on as a whole. We all had to come together for the campaign and I acted as a support system for each team member. I impacted others and obviously my team's and MSP's political careers but I also learned a lot about teamwork itself, communication, professional work environments, adapting to a new culture and more. It had a great impact on my personal development and general abilities like research, writing, and social skills.
What did you learn on your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
I did not expect to learn about political or voting data skills or canvassing skills. This was due to the campaign, I had to learn how to input data and how to interact with potential voters to see how they planned to act in the upcoming election. I was also not expecting to learn debate skills, my team was very enthusiastic about having debates about current events or even abstract topics. I also didn't expect to learn so much history from my job, but it became essential to know in order to understand the political climate of Scotland. The history I learned went way back to the times of the clans and kings. I had to learn how to learn and adapt quickly in order to be an asset to my team.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
In a way yes, it didn't change them completely but it did refine my plans. It gave me a much better sense of how I work within a political environment and how I navigate conflict. It helped me see what kind of role I play on a team. This has opened my eyes to see that the "dream job" I was initially going for may not really be for me. But my plans to go to law school and get involved in international law are still firm in place, especially after this experience. I've learned a lot about myself and about international work environments which has helped me see where I can really fit into these environments in the future.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
I feel like a lot of what I learned form this internship that was more inspiring was just how wide the world is and how similar people really are to each other. Everyone thinks differently, especially in politics, but in the end we all tend to act similarly and want similar things from life. We really are all children of God, and like siblings we all share similarities as people with each other that we may not initially see. I think if more people realized this there would be more peace in the world, that despite out political polarization and desires for our countries, deep down we're all closer and similar than we think.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
Absolutely! This internship is the whole package in that you learn skills in a professional environment but you also have to learn to adapt to a new culture. Learning from the people around you and adapting your style to better interact with them to be more efficient in work is an essential skill to have. This internship pushes you to associate with people you wouldn't normally associate with and learn about them and help them. It also teaches you about a different government's system which is so important to know in order to understand more worldwide politics which affects everyone everywhere. It's also just a very fun and challenging internship that will help you grow as a person and make friends with unexpected people. It's also such a lovely place to live in for an internship, you learn so much history and gain so many necessary skills for all types of work. It also just helps you become a better citizen; one who's more willing to participate in politics and help their country.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your internship?
This was a really great and underrated internship. I think in order to really fit into it you have to have some interest in politic though. Not much, but some. Enough of an interest that you would be willing to have some debates and input around current events and about political systems in general. Much of the internship has a debate element within it, but it's not to create more tension it is to discuss your ideas and see others' points of view. This can be hard for some people but I think it really helps open your mind to new ideas and viewpoints which can help you become more empathetic. Despite all the debates, I think I have come out of this internship with more of an intent to be a peacemaker by being willing to listen to those who disagree with me.
