My State Capitol Internship Experience

Our week of rubbing shoulders with influential people, looking somewhat important and standing in crowded elevators and hallways is now over, and I’m now going to share my experiences with the brilliant people who I shared this excellent experience with, and also folks who are considering joining the program next year.

I wouldn’t consider myself someone in the target demographic for programs like this, as Finns like me tend to shy away from the company of strangers, but my love for US politics overpowered my insecurities and I informed Professor Eskandari on my interest in the program. Despite my lack of extracurricular activities or Ivy League GPA I got in, and I bought my self a nice Mad Men-esque suit jacket at a thrift store in Oxnard and ordered a California state flag pin online. I arrived at the train station on Saturday and met with my fellow interns as we prepared ourselves for the 12 hour train ride ahead. After the sluggish (seriously, I’m fairly confident I could walk to Sacramento faster while carrying a fellow intern on my back) train ride and six dollar Digorno’s pizza (how they fit 770 calories into a “pizza” the size of a quarter is beyond me) we arrived at Sacramento and hauled our stuff into the hotel.

Despite the Rocky start I must say being a part of this program has been one of the best experiences of my long (it sure feels like it) life span of 22 years. How often do you get to ask one of the top legal aides to the Attorney General about the possibility of legalizing murder in the state (this one was for you Martorana) or a powerful lobbyist about their opinions on the 2011 Citizens United case? We met with State Assemly member Das Williams (I actually got to ask him about having rent control in IV), State Senator Hannah Beth-Jackson (who asked for 3-4 interns from our program) and California Pro Temp Kevin De León (he had a great story on entrepreneurship) and despite not actually getting to meet with Governor Jerry Brown we did get a nice lecture about the state dog, Sutter. Also, we got vital insider information about ways to get a job at the building (reading, writing, internships) and some of my fellow interns actually managed to get an internship with the connections they forged on the trip (too bad I cant do any of that due to the my F-1 visa limitations). Sacramento, despite what most Californians might tell you, is not a dusty, meth ridden post-apocalyptic hellhole.
 

If you enjoy American politics (or just California politics),wearing suits and flag pins, want to make important connections with influential people ( or just like minded people your own age) this program is for you. I want to give a special thanks to all my fellow interns, and especially Professor Eskandari and the PTK leadership for making this trip a reality.