Albany Internship and Future Plans for Verrazano Junior

Nicole Wallace, Class of 2013, is spending her spring semester as an intern with the New York State Senate in Albany.  Read below for Nicole's second post from her spring internship in Albany.

This is Nicole Wallace again, writing from Albany for the second time this semester. Lately I have been given more responsibilities around the office. I still carry out the small day-to-day tasks of sorting mail and answering phones; however, I have taken a great part in tracking legislation. Tracking legislation is one of the most important tasks in the office. I am notified by email when one of my Senator’s proposed bills is moved from either the committee or the floor. It is my responsiblity to note such movements and make sure the bills are given the proper consideration by each committee. The most difficult part of my job is getting bills moved from committees to the Senate floor. I have to constantly write letters and call committees to try my best to get each bill moved.

Working in Albany for Senator Tom Libous has been amazing. It’s a great feeling to get up every morning, put on a newly dry cleaned suit and walk to work. I have been gaining a tremendous amount of experience, especially working with some of the legislation software. My office has a great deal of unique software that not only helps me track bills, but also helps me research statistics and various articles.

The academic part of the internship is very informative. Each week a different speaker comes to talk with us. Last week we were visited by a women named Kelly Lopez who deals with the budget process. She not only provided the group with some great information, but also offered advice about graduate school. She advised that if we wanted to get into the political science field, it would be best to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration. I never thought about it before and actually decided to research the idea. I found it as a great option and I am currently thinking about pursuing the idea after graduation.

Interns in Albany (from left to right):
Jeremy (senior at SUNY Old Westbury), James (first international intern from Uganda),
Isis (senior at CUNY Baruch), Jake (senior at CUNY Hunter)

At first I was skeptical about the idea of living in Albany for four months. I knew I would be homesick and I was right. However, after working in Albany for over a month, I began to become less homesick and more drawn to the Albany lifestyle. I am actually considering moving to Albany after graduation for law school to gain my JD and Master’s in Public Administration.