During my journey with the American Studies Program, I had the honor to work under Senator Tim Scott, the junior Senator representing South Carolina in the Federal Congress. I was nervous going into a professional office (let alone a Senator’s office) since I’ve never experienced this type of work environment before.
My main tasks included answering phones from constituents, setting up committee meeting binders for the Senator and staff persons, delivering documentation to other congressional offices as well as attending and taking notes on briefings from organizations that the Senator’s staff could not attend. One of my favorite moments from the fall semester included meeting with an archives specialist in the Library of Congress while I was networking. This is where I got to see historical documents such as Abraham Lincoln’s personally owned copy of the 13th Amendment, a letter written from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on the King of Britain’s visit to the newly established U.S. and one of Theodore Roosevelt’s diaries.
Senator Scott also met with the interns personally to talk about his life lessons. He told us that what keeps him motivated was a blend of reading the book of Proverbs, listening to motivational speakers, staying in touch with his loved ones and taking care of himself first before his work.
What I gained most of all from this journey in D.C. was learning more about myself within the modern work environment. The internship taught me that I don’t prefer to work in the political atmosphere, but instead work in an environment behind the scenes such as with the Library of Congress. Helping people find the right resources for projects and archiving historical works has been a recent growing interest in me as I got explore more around the atmosphere of Washington. But I never would have found that out without the help of Senator Scott’s office, a truly dedicated follower of the Judeo-Christian values in a modern political society.
