Four students receive internship

Four students at Georgia College & State University have been accepted for the Georgia State Legislative Intern program for the 2004 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Political science majors Adam Edge, Wylly Harrison and Kelly Littleton, along with history major Anthony Gallego will work as legislative assistants in a variety of settings, such as the speaker’s office, the Senate president’s office and legislative committees during the upcoming session.
“Nearly every student I’ve worked with who has taken this internship has had a wonderful experience getting to see state government in all of its glory and its quirks,” Dr. Michael Digby, chair of the government & sociology department said. “The interns truly become a major part of the legislative process. The Georgia General Assembly isn’t like the U.S. Congress with its thousands of staff members; rather, these interns are a major part of the work of the Georgia state legislature. They have an impact, as well as having the chance to experience one of the premier functions of democracy.” Approximately 30 students are selected each year from Georgia’s public and private colleges and universities.
“I think it’s the best intern experience that a college student who’s interested in government and public affairs can possibly have,” Digby said. “You get to see how things actually work.”
There are several requirements that must be met in order to be considered for the internship.
The student must be a legal Georgia resident and a U.S. citizen,
as well as a junior or senior undergraduate enrolled in a Georgia college or university. Selection is based on academic standing, the potential for leadership in politics and government as indicated by grades, work experiences, extracurricular activities, interests and maturity.
“They’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that they have participated meaningfully in the fulcrum of democracy, the state legislature,” Digby said. “They’ll have the knowledge that they’ve gone to the political big leagues, have played ball with the pros, and have done well at it. And they’ll know why the legislative process is sometimes called ‘ the sausage factory!’”
The internship period corresponds with the annual session of the General Assembly, which begins the second Monday in January and,
with the usual budget recesses, generally concludes in March or April. In addition to serving as legislative assistants, the interns will write research papers on various aspects of the state’s legislative process.
“I’ve been associated with the state legislative program since my second year at this university, 26 years ago. We’ve nearly always had one intern chosen, sometimes two, but never have we had four selected. We had an unusually good group of applicants this time, which I think is a clear sign of the quality of the students we have,” Digby said. “For the students selected, it means that a statewide selection committee thought of them as being among the best and the brightest college students the state of Georgia has to offer.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 16 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry