I Have Felt Empowered...

Kevin Sonoff, business major (Spr 07)
George Fox University
US Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)

Having completed two-thirds of my semester in Washington D.C. and with two months of experience with the United States Senate I believe I have changed not only as a student but also as a person.  I have grown in ways I didn’t believe possible and have had the rare opportunity to gain a new political mentor.  To put a value on the time that I have spent working for Senator Richard Lugar would be impossible. 

Every day that I go to work at the Senator’s office I try not to leave without having learned something new.  This strategy has produced some extremely valuable results and has encouraged me to seek out new opportunities for growth.  I initially experienced nervousness when around other staff members in the office.  These feelings have completely subsided and cleared the way for great productivity and the development of a number of quality professional relationships.  Feelings of nervousness can cloud one’s mind and inhibit your ability to capitalize on valuable experiences.  I knew that in order to make the most of my internship I needed to focus and proactively learn as much as I could.  This has been an ongoing process and a primary goal for the semester.

One of the greatest aspects about working for Senator Lugar’s office is the freedom they give interns in the workplace.  I have been working on archiving different sets of files that are being taken out of the office and stored at the National Archives here in D.C.  This is an entirely new experience for everyone.  I was assigned to this project a few weeks ago and have dedicated a lot of time and effort into making sure it is done correctly.  I have had to learn the process and in turn teach some of the staff members what needs to be done.  The staff has let me complete this task on my own and hasn’t gotten in the way at all other than to give me support and tell me I am doing a great job.  This situation makes me think of the article we read by Robert Coles, “Finding a Direction.”  Coles writes about boy scouts on a hike whose leader becomes frustrated because a certain scout is lagging behind.  After much frustration the leader realizes the scouts wanted to be able to lead themselves.  If I had the Senator’s chief of staff pressuring me to complete this archiving project exactly how he wanted it done instead of letting me do it the way I thought best, it would have been far more difficult to the complete the task diligently.  By giving me the freedom to do my own work, I have felt empowered to make my own decisions and ultimately achieve success on the project.

Senator Lugar’s 26-year old scheduler has turned out to be a great role model for me this semester.  Justin has worked for the Senator almost five years and has provided me a unique perspective on the Senator’s life and career.  One of my best day’s this semester came from what I thought was going to be the worst.  Justin asked me to help him reorganize the office storage cages in the basement.  The cages are extremely dusty and filthy.  Justin and I spent the entire day sorting through boxes of daily schedules.  Every day Justin prepares a daily schedule briefing for the Senator that tells him where he needs to go and who he is going to meet.  These packets of information include background to remind the Senator what he is going to talk about with each person.  Seventy-seven boxes and nearly eight hours later, Justin and I had sorted through each individual daily schedule from the Senator’s thirty-two years in Congress.  Far more valuable than random busy work, this time together gave us the opportunity to get to know one another and gave me the chance to hear inside stories about what it is like day-to-day to be a Senator.  Justin and I now share a valuable working relationship and I feel I have a friend who I can turn to when I need help. 

Post taken from Internship Reflection #2 (26Mar07)