Students are encouraged to attend as many internships as possible to help locate job opportunities and learn new skills. Internships are unique and important to a student’s education. However, some internships may be a great deal more intense and closely related to the real world of work.
Take Kewon Hikeem Edwards, for example. Edwards graduated from Valdosta State University, majoring in criminal justice, before attending Grambling State University. Now a graduate student in the Masters of Public Administration program, Edwards spent the summer in a prestigious internship with U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), in Washington, D.C.
“As an intern, we received a lot of exposure to the government, judicial, and legislative systems,” Edwards said. “It was also a fun experience making crucial decisions as we advised the senator.”
The internship was worth six credit hours, and was a complete experience for him. Edwards had an opportunity to attend briefings on behalf of the senator and condense his notes into a memo for the legislative assistant.
This assisted the senator by getting her all of the information and knowledge she needed to know while maintaining her busy schedule.
The interns in the program were also able to do a real briefing with the senator and feel as if they were real members of the legislative staff.
Interns also spent time responding to constituent’s letters, learning at political seminars in federal legal research, working in foreign military policy, and veteran affairs. They also had full access to the Library of Congress.
Edwards was one of two chosen from 4,200 applicants. Only three students from GSU have been selected for the internship.
Many interns were selected by networking from Washington, D.C., and Edwards felt blessed to be a part of a major internship that dealt with the government and what’s going on with the United States today.
Interns had an opportunity to attend programming on CNN. After seeing the way decisions are made in Washington, Edwards said he realizes why the United States takes so long to make a decision on what they should do in serious situations such as 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina.
Edwards plans to return to Washington after completing his military service. He is striving to become a senator. He believes Gramblinites should strive to take on internships such as his, because GSU produces students just as good as students who attend Harvard and Stanford.
“It is very important not to be afraid of leaving Grambling to do an internship, because it helps develop your leadership skills and considers you to be a more reliable candidate when applying for jobs,” Edwards said.
Anything is possible, and Edwards is another student who will lead by example and show that GSU is the place where everybody is somebody.