Internship Self-Evaluation

I found out about this internship with Congressman Al Lawson through Handshake,
specifically the FSU Career Center’s Handshake Portal. Interestingly, I got it at the last minute,
after the previous candidate wasn’t able to work with the schedule they demanded. My interview
was nerve-wracking. I prepared excessively, and since I believed this would be a social media
internship, I researched and compared Congressman Lawson’s social media presence to that of
every other Florida Congressperson. I went in with pages of notes detailing where he stood in
comparison and what he might do to improve his standing. I was caught utterly off-guard when I
was told this would be an administrative position. JessiKa Eglin, the staff assistant who
interviewed me, told me that I would be able to write as much as I wanted, and that they would
use me extensively for Legislative Correspondence. I learned Legislative Correspondence (or LC
for short) was the industry term for letters sent to people on behalf of the Congressperson, and
that those letters are almost never written by the actual representative.
LC was certainly my most prominent task, and it proved to be much more interesting than
I initially expected. I worried that I would mostly be cranking out form letters to dull business
people, but the office chose to only use form letters sparingly and write original letters as much
as possible. I had to do a great deal of research for every letter to ensure the information was
accurate and relevant. I was also able to research the district and find people who deserved letters
myself.
In addition to the LC work, my other main task was cataloguing news stories from around
the district, specifically news stories from Jacksonville, Madison County, and Jefferson County.
This task gave me a new perspective on Congressional District 5, the poor, rural district Lawson
represents. It was fascinating to poor through these tiny local papers and see what made the
residents tick. A new fire truck was front page news, and there was a surprisingly high rate of car
accidents. I worked at the office after Hurricane Irma, which hit Jacksonville particularly hard,
so much of my news gathering was centered around the work FEMA and other offices were
doing in the district. Tracking these stories showed to me just how little work actually gets done
to help poor people after natural disasters.
I was also assigned a “Capstone Project,” which was to come up with a concept for a bill
the Congressman could propose and then present that bill to the office. I chose to propose a bill
that would encourage libraries to offer voter registration stations at all times. I researched current
voter registration laws and spoke with the Leon County Supervisor of Elections to determine
how best to go about doing that. At the end, I presented my proposal to the District Director, who
then chose to refer the proposal to a Legislative Assistant in the Washington DC office. I found
this project to be an excellent experience. It encouraged me to think deeper, research further, and
question more than I had previously.
Besides those three tasks, the bulk of my time was spent doing basic administrative
assistance. Myself and the other intern were responsible for answering phones, logging
constituent messages, greeting visitors, cataloging ingoing and outgoing mail, and other office
odds-and-ends. As the office was less than a year old, I also found myself putting my interior
decorating skills to work in order to make the office as professional and comfortable as possible.
My biggest interior design task was arranging art and furniture in the Congressman’s office to
better suit the room for meeting with constituents. It took all of my spare time for three days but I
managed to hang up all of the photos he wanted without overcrowding the walls. I was also able
to march alongside the Congressman during FAMU’s homecoming parade. Lawson is a FAMU
alumni and it was electrifying to hear people cheer and shout his name as we walked the parade
route.
Reflecting on my quality of work, I can’t help but feel proud. I believe all of my writing
accomplished its goals and represented the Congressman well. The pieces I am most proud of are
a letter written to a student in Jacksonville who won an award for animation and a letter
commemorating the life of a Tallahassee Civil Rights leader. The opportunity to apply my
writing skills through Legislative Correspondence showed me another potential career. I am
currently researching paid LC positions and have been happy to see how numerous they are. I am
also proud of the strong communication and interpersonal skills I developed while working in a
government office.
Of course, this experience was not without its mistakes and I certainly have some
weaknesses. My biggest weakness was staying focused on tasks when I had other tasks to do as
well. For example, when I was trying to write a letter to a football team, I would find myself
distractedly refreshing news sites to see if there was anything I could catalogue. I would also say
that my familiarity with certain higher-level staff members was inappropriate towards the
beginning of the semester. I quickly learned what language was appropriate to use with certain
older staff members and what should be reserved for the interns.
Overall, I found my experience interning with Congressman Lawson very rewarding. It
proved to me that I want a career in government and that I would prefer that career to involve
writing. It also gave me an inner look on how politics and governing mix in this turbulent time.
The experience has given me a newer, more personal perspective on the bizarre news stories
which currently fill our world. I would encourage any Editing, Writing, and Media major to
apply for and accept the position. Congressman Lawson’s Tallahassee Office is staffed by
amazingly diverse professionals who work hard to ensure there is a welcoming atmosphere
dedicated to the constituents of the fifth district, and interning there was my greatest professional
experience.
 Word Counts
File Title Words
Nick Maddox Letter 214
Heidi Otway Letter 278
F Club Letter 198
Film Letter 244
Jimbo Jackson Letter 221
Ken Burns Letter 217
Military Academy Letter 154
Dana Yon Letter 217
Ron Sachs Letter 245
Junious Brown Letter 233
Gene Kelly Letter 239
Church Letter 211
Brother Jones Letter 291
Lt. Colonel Reginald D. Howard Letter 293
Master Sergeant Eddie D. Carnley Letter 279
DeVaughn Parks Letter 295
Senior Chief Petty Officer Otis D. Campbell Letter 272
Master Sergeant Jerome A. Kerrison Letter 271
Lt. Colonel Robert E. Proctor Letter 284
Jefferson, Madison, and Jacksonville News 3432

Total 8,088