Today ends my internship with Congressman Larry Bucshon. I have spent the entire summer in Washington D.C. interning for the congressman from May to August. This marks the end of my third congressional internship (I had two district internships with Congressman Luke Messer and then-Congressman Todd Young) and my second in DC (with FreedomWorks). My time in DC gave me a lot of opportunity to meet with people, follow up on old relationships, start new ones, and take in everything the city had to offer. I can honestly say that this has been a fruitful and productive time and I have very much enjoyed myself.
There was a lot of work to do in the office from day to day to make sure it was running smoothly. A lot of what I did involved constituent outreach, mostly with taking phone calls and writing letters of response to those constituents about the very issues they called about. I was also tasked with research projects to study information on the district for different projects the office was doing. Beyond that, I also served as a gofer for the different needs, from getting flags to organizing letters to be sent out to anything the office needed. All of it may seem simple, but every job has an important feature when running an organization and I was happy to play my part in any way that was needed for the Congressman and the good people of Indiana’s 8th District.
However, the most significant work I did was probably giving tours to constituents of the Capitol Building. Many constituents would request a tour through their congressman and it was the duty of the interns to show them the various sites throughout the building. That required memorization the layout and history of large portions of the building before we could present it which took about two weeks before we were ready to give the tour. However, it was probably my favorite part of the tour as it provided the greatest opportunity for personal service. I got to improve the experiences of individuals experiencing Washington DC and that was a huge honor.
Beyond that, my time in the office gave me a lot of opportunity to work with a bunch of individuals. The office was comprised of many different people with unique personalities and interests so it took time to get to know everyone individually. My supervisor especially was very fun to work with. He was very well qualified for his job, knew the ins and outs of the office, was dedicated to his work, and I liked talking to him. I also got to make friends with the other interns as well.
However, Congressman Bucshon was also in the office a lot and I had the opportunity to listen to him privately. Often he would talk about a lot of differing political or legislative issues going on in Congress or throughout the country. I can say without a doubt he was extremely intelligent as he had a strong understanding of the issues he discussed, the history surrounding those issues, and the need to address them. The fact that he was a doctor then wasn’t surprising. In addition, he had a lot of personality so you got a real feel for who he was like his love of hockey which he used to play.
Outside of the office, there were other opportunities for social interaction. I got a chance to follow up on a lot of my old contacts from FreedomWorks while I was here. The IU Alumni association hosted events and meet ups that I was able to attend and meet people there. Also, a bunch of organizations like Heritage and AIPAC hosted networking events that I was able to take advantage of while at the same time my church hosted meet ups with people my age where I made a very good friend. So I was certainly keeping busy.
The city offered a lot of opportunities for entertainment as well so I had a great time just being in DC. The monuments as always are a treat from Washington to Jefferson. The many Smithsonian and other museums were a delight to attend and I had a great time perusing each. However, there were some lesser focused on attractions such as the First Church of Scientology (which is a historic landmark now for some reason) and the Heurich House which gave an insight to the history of DC that were not directly related to its political side. In addition, there were three Catholic Shrines next to Catholic University which I got to attend so I was kept quite busy.
However, the best weekend was the one I got to spend with my family. Over the weekend before the fourth of July, my parents, two youngest siblings, and I went to a minimum of three Presidential homes (Jefferson’s Monticello, Madison’s Montpelier, and Monroe’s Highland). We got to enjoy the other sites of DC as well like Arlington. So there was a lot to take in throughout Virginia as well and there was never a dull moment. Overall, I made the most of my DC experience.
I have to thank Congressman Bucshon and my supervisor for giving me this wonderful opportunity to spend another three months in DC (increasing the total of months spent here to nine). I got to continue to do public service while being in a place that I enjoy with friends old and new. I’m a year out now from graduation and soon I’ll be doing something similar full time. This internship provided many opportunities for the future and gave me needed experience I’ll always cherish. If I do end up in DC afterwards, I’ll know I’m in an excellent place.
