Internship Location: Washington DC
Organization Type: Federal Government
Policy Areas: Education policy
My internship at the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics (WHHI) has been a rewarding experience. This internship included several doors and leaps of growth. For example, the Department of Education hosted a Brown Bag Lunch Series once a week. I attended all of these Brown Bags and I was able to hear from Confidential Assistants, Lawyers, Executive Directors, Communications, and the Deputy Secretary about their experiences. Listening to their stories inspired me to reach out to people in the Department of Education who specialize in policy analysis. I had coffee chats with two staff members outside of my office who are policy advisors and analysts. Through these two coffee chats, I was able to learn more about policy careers in the federal government. One of the women I met with advised me to conduct my research which I did through surveying an event the WHHI hosted for interns from an outside Latine organization. She reminded me that there is always someone out there that will inspire and push you toward your goals if you express it towards them. The analytical and written skills I learned from the PA380 class allowed me to successfully summarize the data received. In this La Follette class, I had to complete a group paper on contraception access in Wisconsin, which came with many challenges in the group. Not having the best experience in this group paper I was able to apply that to my work at this internship by directly communicating expectations on tasks for team assignments. Fortunately, all of the other interns were great teamworkers and we all eagerly helped each other out on several assignments. Additionally, in the PA200 class, I wrote a policy memo which I was able to apply to this internship as I completed a speaker memo for a Staff member. I would highly recommend this internship to future students that are interested in helping uplift Latine students in education. As a first-generation Latina myself, this internship showed me that I can find spaces in my future career to help advocate for the Latine community. Additionally, as this internship is in the Department of Education, you will have many opportunities to attend federal government fairs, events, tours, and meet & greets. It was surprising to learn about all of the grants and programs provided in the Department of Education which was valuable as I can now share this to others I know could benefit from this. Overall, this internship has helped me prosper to search for organizations and spaces that are actively working for and advocating for Latine communities. I enjoyed doing research and work in education which I hope to continue exploring in a policy analysis area throughout my college experience and future career.