Laura Rusk of Elmhurst College on Her Internship at the House of Representatives

Laura and her supervisor outside of their office on Capitol Hill.

Laura Rusk, a junior and Political Science and Philosophy double major from Elmhurst College in Illinois, has been spending her Spring 2020 semester as an intern in the House of Representatives with Representative Ron Kind’s office. Here’s what she had to say about the experience when we stopped by to check in on her:

“My main responsibility as an intern is writing correspondence to constituents. Every day, we receive phone calls from constituents who have either have concerns, have questions, or would like the Congressman to vote a certain way. Every call that we receive gets put into our system, so that we can send them a letter response from the Congressman. Aside from constituent correspondence, I attend briefings and write memos for the legislative staff, give tours of the Capitol, and complete other administrative tasks for the office.

A misconception I had about intern life is that I thought I would have to know everything coming into my internship. I’ve learned that was so far from the truth. My supervisor has been so willing to help me with anything that I didn’t know how to do or answer any questions that I’ve had. Everyone in my office is so willing to help me learn, and they make me feel valued as a member of their team. The honest truth is that so many people in Washington are just really good at faking it.

My favorite part of interning here is getting to be a part of something so much bigger than myself. Congress is an incredible place, and so much history is being made in my midst. To have the opportunity to wake up every morning and go to work on Capitol Hill is an absolute dream, and most people will never get this opportunity in their lifetime. Every day is different – you never know what’s going to happen and you never know who you might run into on the elevator.”

Asked what she would take away from this internship, Laura said:
”First and foremost, I’ve learned that at the end of the day, I am a lot more capable of things than I let myself believe. During my first week, I was really lacking confidence – everyone in my class seemed to have these amazing internships and they were such impressive people. I forgot that I have an amazing internship and that I am an impressive person, too. Everything that I once was so scared to do, like write a briefing memo or deliver documents to the House floor, I have done. I used to get lost trying to find my way to the Capitol, and now I (pretty much) know where to go. There is a reason that my internship chose me, and I constantly have to remind myself of that.

Second, networking is only as scary as you let it be. When I heard that during the semester I would have to network with real professionals, I was terrified. There are so many intelligent, important people in Washington – how was I going to get them to talk to me? Apparently, it is much easier than I once thought. I was invited to a reception for a space policy organization, and I thought I would go just to see what it was like. I was definitely the youngest, most underqualified person there. I knew nothing about space policy, and I was in a room full of engineers, aerophysicists, astronauts, and CEOs that work for NASA. However, I had a genuine interest for learning more. I thought about turning around the second I walked in, but I didn’t. I am so glad that I stayed. I made so many connections that night and several of them have offered to meet me for a cup of coffee to discuss their career paths. When I went up to them at the reception, they were more than willing to have a conversation with me, and they were genuinely interested in hearing what I had to say. If you’re nice to people, they will generally be nice back.”