Name: Maggie Harden

Year: Junior

Major: Journalism, Political Science

Minor: Legal Studies

CFS Class: Field Studies in Civic Engagement

Employer: Brad Schneider for Congress

This fall, I am interning with Brad Schneider for Congress. I have been interning there part-time for a little over a year now, but CFS gave me the opportunity to devote much more attention to this internship ahead of the midterm elections in November, and so far I’ve loved the experience.

One major lesson that I’ve learned is how important it is to be flexible and have an open mind in the workplace. I am an intern for the campaign’s finance team, and I had absolutely no background in math or in economics when I took the position, so I was a little weary of whether or not I would be able to do a good job or enjoy what I was doing. However, I quickly realized that being a finance intern for a political campaign actually involves dealing with very little math: It actually involves a lot more work with communications and community outreach, which are all skills I really enjoy and have loved being able to improve. I am a journalism and political science double major, and so being able to work in political communications for a campaign has been a great supplement to the kinds of material I’m learning in my classes. If I had decided not to apply for this internship just because I was scared of having the title of finance intern, would have missed out on a great opportunity and that is definitely something I will keep in mind for the future.