Colby-Sawyer Student Becca Budrock On Her Ballotpedia Internship
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Becca Budrock is an Environmental Science major at Colby-Sawyer College who is currently spending her last semester of college interning online through the Washington Internship Institute. We reached out to hear how she has been faring at her internship with Ballotpedia:
Where did you intern, and what does your internship site do?
I interned at Ballotpedia as a GIS Analysis intern. Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia of American politics that strives to collect as much accurate, unbiased information about American politics as possible! The website reaches hundreds of thousands of people each week and sees major website traffic around general elections.
What sort of work have you done at your internship? Are there any projects that you are proud to have worked on?
I had the opportunity to contribute massive amounts of data to the Ballotpedia database that was eventually connected to our Sample Ballot Tool. Leading up to the November 3, 2020 election, this tool was used hundreds of thousands of times per week by voters across the United States. Through connecting geospatial data to political offices and electoral districts within the database, our readers are able to use this tool to view who and what will be on their ballot for the General Election! My personal responsibilities included researching specific electoral districts that were assigned to me in order to determine the manner of election of certain offices, collecting the appropriate GIS data for the districts, and uploading that GIS data to the database.
So far, what has been your favorite thing about interning this semester?
There’s very little about interning at Ballotpedia that I haven’t completely loved! Being able to see how a website with such a large database operates on a day-to-day basis has been a real highlight for me this semester. Aside from the actual work that I’ve been doing, I’ve also really enjoyed observing the workplace dynamic at a completely remote company. Everyone at Ballotpedia has been very welcoming and fun to interact with over the virtual workspace. The energy that everyone has leading up to this election is inspiring and impressive.
What will you take away from this experience?
This experience with Ballotpedia showed me that I genuinely enjoy this type of work. This internship was a practical application of skills that I learned in a classroom setting and I will walk away from it knowing that GIS Analysis work is needed at all levels of politics. Also, interning during the pandemic proved to be a unique experience that taught me unique skills that I wouldn’t have gained if I hadn’t interned during a pandemic! I learned how to balance my work and personal lives, how to be a self-starter, and how to create a project management system that works well for me.
Do you have any advice for future students in our program?
I would advise future students to pursue internships that might seem out of their comfort zone. Internships are learning experiences, and it’s okay not to know exactly how to do everything that an internship may require.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can intern in DC through the Washington Internship Institute while earning a full semester of credits from your school, click below.
