Feedback on Congressional Internship

DesertCaliMom

5-Year Member
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Feb 6, 2017
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DS finishes his three month internship soon. There were some posts in the past debating if it would be "worth it" to spend time on such a commitment versus other ECAs a potential plebe could be doing, so I wanted to share a few observations.

Leadership skills do shine if the student continues to show potential by being committed and teachable. DS was asked to consider extending another term, but the office manager realized they were asking for quite a bit considering finals and summer camps are soon.

Effective and professional communication - DS interacted with the public and reporters consistently. He mastered listening skills and he was given the duty of handling constituents who were angry because he would de-escalate and even get the caller to relax.

Attention to detail- every constuent interaction is logged and he was given access to the information for the district, to be used correctly. He began logging all interactions due to his ability to proof each entry. He started assisting on special projects and research.

Efficient and thorough tasking- DS said he started using a return and report model for his work, getting immediate feedback. He said there was never a time he had to repeat a task.

There were a heap of things he learned about our political system and how under-educated many people are on political process, but all in all, I see a honing of skills that were already there and the ability to prove himself in an adult and meaningful way. Will it be worth it to explain what he did and learned? I think so, but even if it doesn't garner any support of his application, he had a great time, got to help more than a few people and is far nore cynical and honest about government!
 
There is no single activity or golden ticket to get into USNA. An Congressional internship in itself isn't a positive or negative, but if DS can show Admissions how it had meaning and what he learned , he may be able to use it to to separate himself from the pack of other candidates. In other words, by all means, use it !
 
Is this the right forum for this? How does it link to USNA? Was this a junior year internship?
 
Yep, we are aware there is no golden ticket. Just sharing some insight for anyone who may be considering such and for those who weren't sure what skills could be polished or learned during the experience.
 
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