Samuel Kingue – IUPUI Political Science Major, Communications Studies Minor

I am currently doing my internship at the Indiana State Capitol. I am a Senate Republican legislative Intern and I specifically intern for Senator Bray who happens to be the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Some of the connections you could make between the internship and class work is the “how” state affairs function. For instance, in class we are only taught how the legislative branch of government functions – whether it is voting laws that governs either the state or the entire nation.  In the internship you get to see the mechanical process behind how government functions. An example is how the Senators even get to be Senators and some of the variables that gather to influence their decisions about how certain bills become laws.

The work I do during this internship enhances my understanding of Political Science in the sense where I see from a broader perspective how state legislature functions. Democracy takes on its form when constituents elect Senators who represent them and their interests when it comes to state laws that regulate the functioning of the State of Indiana.  The process of bills becoming laws was much more visible as I dealt with making bills packets for my Senator.  These were bills to be discussed during session and then be voted and passed over to the House.  In turn, the House would vote on the bills and take them to the Governor to be signed into law.  I have also noticed other variables like lobbying firms trying to influence legislature is definitely crucial to the legislative process.  These interests constitute the very base of politics.

My advice for students looking for an internship is to be persistent in the search for internships. There are many resources students can use to find an internship like Professors, academic advisors and the Office of Career Development in the School of Liberal Arts. Many Students usually cannot find internships due to lack of information so you have to connect to the best resources to find your internship.