Internship Location: Madison WI
Organization Type: State Government
Policy Areas: Child Care, Early Childhood Education, Sustainability/Environment, Tax (specifically TIF/TIDs)
The number one thing I learned from my internship is that we never know as much as we think we do. There were a lot of issues/policies/bills that I thought I had a good grasp on and understanding of, but every day I would learn something new about them. For example, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of early childhood education; I learned so much about both the child care industry and the public school system by researching the community-based approach to 4K. I learned about topics which I had never even thought about (which age groups are the most profitable, the difference between a certified and a licensed center, how provider:child ratios vary depending on the kind of center, etc.). This was an important discovery for me because it helped me realize that I will never be an expert at any given policy area, and the researching and learning is never over. This will help me in future work situations by encouraging me to continue learning about issues, and to continue discussing information with colleagues in order to learn as much as possible about an issue. I would absolutely recommend this internship to future students, as it was both a humbling (because I learned how little I knew) and an informative experience. I think everyone should take an opportunity to work in the public policy sector so that they can learn more about the system around us why things are never as simple as they seem. My biggest takeaway would be that if there is a solution that seems like the simple/obvious answer to you, you’re probably missing a part of the puzzle… otherwise that solution would have been implemented already!