Practicum

Internship with Senator Cardin's Office

For my practicum, I interned with Senator Ben Cardin’s Washington, DC office. I was assigned to the healthcare team, so I would assist the health policy legislative assistant (LA) and legislative correspondent (LC). I worked on a wide variety of tasks, including research, memo writing, answering constituent mail, and sorting the mail. Every week, I would work on a weekly COVID update memo for the Senator. Among my other tasks include a floor speech on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a cosponsor memo for the DIVERSE Trials Act, and a trial-prep memo on high drug prices. I learned so much from this experience, both about the Senatorial process and about working in an office in general. I learned a lot about how a Senate office works; there is an immense amount of communication between all the state offices and the DC office. Senator Cardin has the luxury that his state offices are incredibly close by, so it is very easy for them to communicate and gather. I also learned a lot about how staff assignments and committees work. Because Senator Cardin is on the Senate Finance Committee, I got to help the LA and LC prep for the health related trials. I helped with a trial on high drug prices and one for pediatric mental health. I learned a lot about speaking up and asking for questions, as well as time management. It is so much better to ask questions than have to redo a task. I often had multiple assignments going on, and I needed to prioritize certain tasks over others. I also learned a lot about the quality of assignments, it is much better to spend more time on an assignment and have it be the best possible work. I uploaded one of my favorite memos to work on, the DIVERSE Trials Cosponsor Memo. This memo was one of the most important tasks I worked on, and it took me over a week to complete the rough draft. I had to ask a lot of clarifying questions (which is not easy for me), and I was really satisfied with the way it turned out.

I will be able to apply what I learned in my practicum experience in virtually any office or career. This was my first real office experience, so I learned so much about the operations of an office in general, beyond just a Senate office. I also learned a lot about the legislative process and how lobbyists interact with staffers. I definitely emerged from my internship a more confident and stronger leader, as well as more confident going forward with the job/internship search! For the rest of my time at UMD, I plan on doing a lot more networking and connecting. I will definitely

What I learned in I plan on incorporating what I learned PL in my resume and cover letters. Not only is Public Leadership highlighted on my resume, I frequently discuss the program, particularly CPPL101 and CPPL200, in my cover letters.