CCD: Tell us about your experience. What were your responsibilities?
LA: I interned at Vote-USA, an organization that utilizes a non-partisan web based social interaction tool that enables voters to connect to candidates running in their city, county, and state level. As a research intern for Vote-USA, my responsibilities consisted of researching candidates’ campaign information, contacting candidates to invite them to fill out their profile on the web page, and conducting interviews with those candidates which will then be used for podcasts. I analyzed states and governments in order to understand the methods involved in presenting constituents’ information regarding elected officials and their policy agenda.
CCD: What resources at BU or prepared you for your internship?
LA: I think my liberal arts training and thinking came into play during my internship. Throughout my time at BU, I’ve significantly improved my critical thinking and research analysis skills, and these skills were essential in my internship.
CCD: What was the best thing about the experience?
LA: The best thing about the experience was the team! Everyone was so kind, compassionate and so hard-working. It inspired me to be the same. At SIF they were always willing to adapt in order to best serve those in their network. I learned a lot from them. I also thoroughly enjoyed the conversations that I was blessed to have with non-profit leaders. Their passion for their work was so strong and their impact within their communities was powerful. The worst thing about the internship was that it was fully remote due to the pandemic. Even with that being said, the SIF team still fostered a warm and welcoming environment. They planned fun team games, team lunches, chats with the interns, and we had very engaging discussions concerning daily icebreaker questions.
CCD: What was the most memorable part of your experience?
LA: Having the opportunity to conduct interviews with candidates running to become elected officials was something I was proud of. Drafting questions specific to a candidate’s policy agenda, current events (such as: the pandemic, black lives matter movement), as well as their educational background, etc. was really interesting. After conducting the interviews through zoom, it’s composed into an episode for Vote-USA’s podcast.
BU + Beyond 