Name: Meghan Ferri
Class Year: 2023
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Cold Springs, NY
Internship Organization: The Dumbarton Group & Associates
Job Title: Washington Policy Intern
Location: Remote from Wilmington, NC
I mostly do a lot of research during this internship. I research various issue topics for my supervisor and then we discuss my findings in our weekly zoom meetings. I have also put together some PowerPoint presentations with some of my research findings for certain issues. My supervisor has used these slides in calls with clients and other healthcare groups in D.C. One time I had to do a voice memo for a Wall Street group regarding recent GOP primary winners and they enjoyed it so much that they asked for another one, this time with video! I have also written some memos using my research findings - one that was used for Ted Cruz’s office.
My supervisor for this internship is actually the mother of a close friend of mine from Bryn Mawr, and she offered me the position after an interview. I decided to apply for the internship because I am really interested in healthcare justice and accessibility, which is the core of what the Group does. Also, it sounded interesting to research policy and see what goes on behind the scenes in advising clients on how to lobby Congress and how the Group itself communicates with Congress.
Working remotely for the first time has definitely been interesting. I have taken plenty of classes online, but doing an internship online is very different. For one thing, when I was taking online classes, I still was living and working at school, and had some level of routine to keep me motivated and on top of my work. With this internship, I am doing it from my home, in the room that I share with my sister. Therefore, it is causing me to have to be extra diligent in how I manage my time and make sure that I meet my deadlines for my projects. The zoom calls, however, are a comfort. I am very used to meeting with professors and other advisors via zoom at this point. So the weekly meetings with my supervisor are not something that I had to adjust to. Additionally, I like the freedom that working remotely from home allows. I am definitely a night owl and being able to do my work at times that work best for me has actually made this experience far less stressful and more enjoyable than I had originally anticipated.
If I had to choose three adjectives to describe my internship, I think that I would say rewarding, interesting, and challenging. Rewarding, because I am learning so much information and it is rewarding to know that the research I am doing is helpful and being used in beneficial ways. Interesting, because the research I am tasked with is teaching me so much about the workings of policy and lobbying Congress, and issues I hardly knew anything about. Challenging, because I think for anything to feel rewarding it has to feel a bit challenging as well. The work I am doing is fun, but also challenging to make sure I am meeting deadlines and there is a bit of pressure when crafting something used on Wall Street or a senator’s office. Three nouns I would use to describe the internship are research, presentations, and memos. Those are the three different things I have done. Most of what I do is research, which I then put into presentations or memos for different purposes.
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Political Science
