Post written by Hatchet reporter Sara Murali
According to the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 92 percent of GW students obtain at least one internship throughout the course of their undergraduate years. Many of these students make their way to the halls of Congress, working as interns for legislators from their home states. As debates continue to swirl about the legality of unpaid internships and the utility of a congressional internship, the Hatchet sent a reporter to Capitol Hill to find out what exactly it is like to be in this role.
Junior Richard Livingstone has certainly learned the ins and outs of working on the Hill as an intern for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla). To be sure, he has come away from the experience with an enhanced understanding of what goes on behind closed doors in the halls surrounding the nation’s main legislative body. But for him and many others, despite the excitement of working in the Capitol building, the day-to-day duties of the job turned out to be quite lackluster.
For Livingstone, whose primary role consisted of answering phone calls, sorting through e-mails and delivering messages, the experience proved to be anything but glamorous.
“I was definitely a paper pusher,” Livingstone said. “I think had I been older and worked more hours during the week, I would have been given a bit more respect.”
Furthermore, in his experience, Livingstone said, interns feel a strong sense of inferiority in the work environment, as working alongside college graduates can prove to be a difficult task to overcome.
“I definitely felt like the lowest on the totem pole,” Livingstone said. “I was often left with nothing out of the ordinary to do and spent my entire internship doing monotonous tasks assigned to the interns.”
But others who have worked as interns on the Hill said that they felt they have fulfilled more important roles, despite the low level of prestige associated with their position. This was the case for sophomore Farhan Daredia, who currently works as a press intern for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).
“Obviously interns are the lowest ranking,” Daredia said, “but since I’m given substantive work to do, I’m happy to be there.”
Though he realizes he is just an intern, Daredia sees himself as making a tangible impact in his office.
“I obviously have to make pick-ups from the Capitol and drop off printing and graphics here and there but overall, I feel like I play a real role in the function of the press office,” Daredia said.
For others, working as interns on the Hill simply means making the best of what amounts to a substandard status.
“I’m an unpaid intern so it is normal to feel inferior, but if I feel anything, it is respect for the amount of work people in my office put into their job,” freshman Eugenia Finizio said.
Although Finizio said she rarely feels second-rate compared to others in her office, she warned that others seeking similar positions should know what to expect before coming to the Hill.
“Anyone who thinks that they are going to intern at the Capitol and not fold envelopes or answer mail is dreaming,” Finizio said. “But at the same time, anyone who thinks that they are going to intern at the Capitol and sit in the back of an office and learn nothing is in for a rude awakening.”
As her own time on the Hill, she feels a sense of gratitude for the opportunities she has received. While she may not be responsible for the most substantive of tasks each day, she believes that her experience is made worthwhile by the fact that it is not everyday that an undergraduate college student has the chance to take part in determining the future of the country.
“Taking this internship has made me realize that, though I love being at GW, there is a real world out there and our country is run in a building that is only blocks away from campus. I never know what the next day [at my job] is going to bring, which is why I enjoy it so much.”
