Even as a college student, Brad Wever knows he’ll always be a “Neighbor for Tabor.”
The social relations senior has been interning with state Rep. Susan Tabor since January, a job that has sent Wever into the daily downtown depths of the Lansing Republican’s capital city office.
“I love it,” Wever said. “I’ve learned a lot about my own personal politics as well as politics on a statewide level. A lot of people don’t realize the importance of local and state politics.”
Every student in the James Madison College must complete a semesterlong internship dealing with public affairs, an experience students like Wever say has been invaluable to their education.
Wever’s duties include everything from setting up schedules to door-to-door campaigning to writing bills.
“I have two bills I would call mine,” he said. “They’re really simple bills, but it’s getting me to know the process of what goes where.”
Although not all students seeking political internships end up in Lansing, Grant Littke, James Madison’s director of field experience, said living just miles from the Capitol is useful.
“It makes a whole variety of opportunities available to our students,” Littke said. “Madison students have a fine track record at the Capitol, and most offices in the state Capitol are always on the lookout for more interns.”
Littke said about 25 percent of the students travel outside the Michigan area for the internships, usually extending to Washington, D.C.
James Madison is one of the few academic programs on campus that requires an internship for juniors or seniors - and the only one that offers 12 credits for a semester of work.
“A lot of students will start picking up unofficial internships that they’re not getting credit for,” Littke said. “It’s a much richer education that allows students to test their ideas.”
While the internships are not difficult to get - Littke said there are five times more internship opportunities than students in the college - it can be hard to find the right internship for the individual student.
“Students may need to be more creative in their internship search,” said Melanie Humphries, the student employment coordinator for MSU’s Career Services & Placement. “There are some specific representatives and senators who recruit specifically at MSU for their internships, but it’s also beneficial for the students to take a more pro-active approach.
“It’s a win-win situation for both the student and the employer involved.”
Humphries said Internet search engines like www.monstertrak.com provide more internship options than students can possibly fill. Keeping in touch with professors and department heads offers even more choices for the internship-seeker.
“Thinking out of the box is an asset to employers,” Humphries said. “There’s a wide range of things students can do with however involved they’re willing to be.”
And some students stay involved.
Although Wever has completed his required 12 credits, he’ll continue to work for Susan Tabor this fall, and has been offered a position with her 2002 campaign.
“I wish I could have had this kind of internship every summer,” he said. “I was blown away. I’ve always wanted to be an elected official, and this is kind of a step toward that.”
