Hey everyone! I can’t believe I’ve already passed the midpoint of my internship, even though I’ve learned so much in these past few weeks. Now that the interns have been office in the office for over a month, our supervisor has been delegating more responsibilities to us. If we are sent on an errand to any room or building on the Hill, there is an expectation that we know how to get there on our own. We are now able to complete most of our everyday tasks without being asked, and we operate much more efficiently. Recently, we have been able to draft and edit letters to constituents and sometimes get to do research projects for the legislative assistants. Having greater responsibilities is exciting but also requires close attention to detail, and has been helping me improve my technical writing skills as well.
One of my favorite projects I have gotten to work on has involved researching obstacles facing undocumented domestic violence survivors. I’ve been looking into the impact that the zero-tolerance policy has had on discouraging undocumented survivors from reporting abuse due to fears of deportation. Domestic violence shelters in several cities with substantial immigrant populations have seen concerning declines in the number of migrant women reporting abuse and seeking protective orders: in one facility where undocumented women usually made up almost have of the organization’s caseload, the number of undocumented reports have dwindled nearly to zero since the policy was implemented. My passion for immigration policy and women’s rights makes this issue particularly relevant to me, so it was really exciting to get to work on this project.
While I feel as though I have been able to progress on all of my learning goals, I think the most important and discernible progress I have made has been in the realm of confidence and self-reliance. Coming into this internship, my biggest fear was that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with the speed and intensity of working in a House office. Adjusting to the environment has certainly been a process, and I definitely still second-guess myself, but I have seen remarkable improvements in my self-confidence.
Coincidentally, this growth has also helped me develop and hone my leadership capabilities. Lacking assertiveness tends to be one of my primary weaknesses as a leader; especially as a female, this self-imposed barrier can significantly hinder my professional development. Building up faith in my own competence and skills has been crucial to my progress in this internship, and is absolutely one of the most important outcomes of my intern experience.