“Hello, my name is Lisa Melanie Martinez. I am a senior at William Paterson University, which is located in New Jersey. As a political science major, I am thrilled to be in the center of US politics. Interning in Washington DC for my last semester of my undergraduate career has been a life altering experience for me. I am an intern at Prime Advocacy, which is a logistics firm that schedules legislative meetings for various organizations. Being able to walk by Capitol Hill every morning motivates me to live in the moment, because my time in DC is limited by only 3 months. Therefore, I immersed myself within the DC experience by attending events and conferences as a gateway to grasp all the knowledge and skills that is essential to my personal growth. By attending networking events after my internship, I met a diverse group of individuals, who shared their important career advice to me.
As the end of the semester slowly approaches in two weeks, I am coming back to New Jersey as a self-reliant woman. From this experience, I learned the importance of becoming independent on my own by acquiring budgeting and couponing skills. In addition, I am now able to hone my time management skills, because I now understand the importance of balancing both my school and internship assignments. During my down time, I became involved with the young adult ministries in various parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Washington DC. I enjoyed trying new cuisines thanks to the popular food trucks, while also learning how to cook various dishes on my own. Walking through the same historical streets of groundbreaking individuals of our nation’s past has inspired me to use this DC experience as a foundation to build my legacy as a future politician.
I am thankful for the Washington Internship Institute for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity. This is not a goodbye, this is a see you later Washington DC. I will be back in the future as a Congresswoman.”
— Lisa Melanie Martinez, Fall 2013 intern at Prime Advocacy and William Paterson University alumna
