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| Andrew Stewart Class of 2015 |
I was an intern for about 5 weeks, and that was a quality amount of time to really take in the whole experience as an intern. First, Congressman Guthrie’s staff was the best. Basically my co-workers were nothing that I expected them to be. I expected the staff to be very uptight and into their work, only to treat interns as puppets to do their bidding in meaningless tasks. But Rep. Guthrie’s staff was extremely welcoming. They made our transition into our daily routine as smooth as possible. They gave us numerous opportunities to go listen to speakers and explore the Capitol Building. They really become our friends as we were able to hear stories about what they do outside of the office and hear about where they are from and how they become part of the staff in DC. They were willing to learn about who we were as interns and even bought breakfast or lunch for us when it was our last day in the office. Mrs. Beil, who was the Congressman’s scheduler, even allowed me to walk with her to different parts of the city in DC during our lunch break to check out the different restaurants that the Congressmen go to around the Capitol. She even exposed me to Food trucks that would come and offer international cuisine to those who worked in government buildings. It surprised me how often the Congressmen and their staff had opportunities to have free meals. One afternoon, after the work day, an ice cream company, in support of a dairy initiative, gave out free ice cream to all congressmen and their staff. Food was a major topic of most discussions in the office.
Our work as interns was a mix of what I continue to call meaningless tasks and actually quality assignments. We did have to fetch water for the office, make sure we had paper for the printer and even took most of the constituents’ phone calls, but the staff gave us other responsibilities as well. We had to help research parts of some legislation and we even wrote proactive letters to constituents who have accomplished or received anything of significance. We also were given the job of assessing what legislation that Congressman Guthrie voted on during days they had votes. The staff allowed us to attend different briefings in our committees of choice. My favorite briefing was in the Budget Committee, Chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. The topic of the briefing was the War of Poverty and it was interesting to hear different Congressmen’s perspective on what it means to be dependent on government. The even had a testimonial from a lady who was on government assistance, such as Obamacare and food stamps.
But the most influential part of my intern experience was the interaction with Political leaders. As interns we were given the task of taking constituents on Capitol tours, and we learned about the history of the Capitol building and all the past leaders who worked in those halls and chambers. Henry Clay from Kentucky was one of the most revered political leaders in American Congressional history and I was able to proudly speak about him on our tours. But I was able to hear political leaders speak, such as Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senator Claire McCaskill, Senator Michael Bennet, and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, just to mention a few. We were able to personally meet Rep. John Lewis, which was awesome for me since he was part of the Civil Rights movements which is my field of interest. We were also fortunate enough to be interns during the elections for a new House Majority Leader and were able to be at the Capitol to watch Kevin McCarthy be introduced as the new Majority Leader. We heard him speak to the interns as well a few weeks later. But Congressman Guthrie himself was an amazing person to meet. He talked with us everyday he was in the office and made us feel important. He found a way to connect with us, and he loved telling us stories. He is a very smart man, who knows his history about politics among other things. But he was genuine. Rep. Guthrie was very down to earth and was very authentic in his demeanor and his orientation to his office. I think he was even voted by other Congressman as one of the nicest Representatives in Congress. I was proud that he represented out home district.
Overall my time in DC was fantastic. I was able to explore the city, and saw all the amazing sights that captured our nation’s greatness. I was in awe of all the monuments and appreciated the reverence we gave to those men and women who truly shaped our nation to where it is today. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll have an office in the Capitol.
Andrew Stewart is a McConnell Scholar studying political science. He is from Radcliff, Ky.