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Student Spotlights

Nathan Seal: Political Science

Nathan interned as a legislative assistant for Legislative Research and General Councils during the Winter 2022 Semester.

Describe a day in your life as an intern. I

'd wake up at 6 and get in professional dress then ride public transportation all the way to the capital building and arrive by 7:30 am and finish preparing the morning briefing that I had been working on in transit. When my legislator arrived in his office I'd be ready for him with whichever committee binder he needed and off we'd go. I sat nearby him so I could always be available to run and grab something for him or send a message but usually I was free enough to half pay attention to the meeting and also work on his email backlog or respond to texts and voice mails on his and my government phones. Then he'd go off campus for medical treatment every day and I'd peruse the Capitol Hill lunches to procure him something to eat during afternoon floor time. When he was on the floor voting I'd be keeping track and updating the shared document with interest group opinion tracking and his actual votes. Many days I'd also be working on a larger task like preparing his weekly video script or coordinating an interest meeting. Then we typically had an afternoon committee meeting and if it was his (he was chair of the House Government operations standing committee) I'd have to be more involved. The end of the average day could be 5 to 7 or later depending on when in the session.

What industry/job specific skills did you learn?

I was enveloped in office suites, ios services, and government procedure. Navigating professional conduct and practicing assertiveness and initiative driven proactive problem solving within historical systems under the tutelage of Representative Malloy was invaluable.

What is something you learned from this experience that could be applied to other settings?

Know your place, but make the best of it.

What was your favorite part of your internship?

The prestigious aura of the whole thing.

How did you get your internship?

I applied to Lisa Sorensen from the email newsletter for FHSS.

How did this experience contribute to your growth?

I proved to myself that I could work a 60 hour work week.