Elliott France

A conversation I had the other day with my state government teacher, Andrea Mcatee,
reminded me of why I came to college: to learn. This is often lost in the system of desperately
trying to get a job and a degree. As soon as I started college, I was pressured to get an
internship one semester into my experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship with Senator
Warner’s office, but it took away from my fifteen hours of credits. If I had taken the time to do an
internship solely during the summer, this problem may have subsided. Still, a key reason I came
to the University of South Carolina was so that I could work at the South Carolina State House
during the school year and throughout the summer. This ambition came true during my
sophomore and Junior years working for the LCI committee. While taking fifteen hours of credit
while working, I found classes that balanced the importance of work experience and learning.
These classes were Poli 378 and Poli 379 state government internship classes with Dr. Meyer-
Gutbrod. These courses combined an academic approach to understanding state agency with a
part-time internship program so that students could simultaneously experience the State
Government in South Carolina while learning about it. The courses provided an overview of
state and local government practices and politics across the United States, focusing on South
Carolina. We would learn during class periods primarily through guest speakers such as
lobbyists, the House of Representatives clerk, and the governor's chief of staff. In class and
during my internship with the LCI committee, I explored the variation in state priorities,
institutions, and policy implementation. In addition, I was able to take advantage of my proximity
to the capitol and lawmakers by observing the state legislature and lobbyists work together on a
day-to-day basis. This class helped reduce my work experience's interference with my class
schedule and ultimately helped connect what I was learning in a practical environment. This was
the first time in my college experience that a class or professor had balanced the emphasis on
learning and working while being a student.
Now that I am a semester away from graduating and looking for a job, I am glad that I
was able to have these experiences during the year. I have forged many connections while I
have worked in my various internships, which will lead to a full-time job in the upcoming year.
Along with the professional and personal connections that I have forged, the University started
an Agency day this year to promote employment within state agencies. The Arts and Sciences
program hosted more than 30 state agencies to reach college students about career and
internship opportunities in state government. The event itself was set up very well, with thirty
agencies in attendance and several hundred students rotating through the seminar during the
three hours that they hosted the event. It is nice to see the University creating new initiatives like
this for students to get involved and gain professional experience while they are completing their
undergraduate degrees. When I was looking for my first internship I got connected from a
mutual party back home in Virginia. This led me to my second internship at the South Carolina
House of Representatives, interviewing with the Clerk of the House. I got lucky that I was able to
seek out and gain these internships through word of mouth and the connections that I had and
gained.
During my first internship I was unaware that the classes for internship credit were available
until the end of the semester. I reached out to the professor at the end of the year to join the
class and after reading over the syllabus I was not able to complete the full course with only a
month left in the semester. The course comprised a five-page paper, a ten-page paper, and
daily journal entries of the activities completed during the internship. While I was unable to
complete the course for class credit it gave me the opportunity to take the full course when I
started my new internship a year later. By the time I enrolled in Poli 379 there was a new
professor that ran the course and had switched the curriculum quite a bit. For starters, there
was an application to get into the course because there were limited seats reserved for mostly
upperclassmen with the prerequisite that you had an internship or were looking for one in state
government. While I had already secured an internship for the upcoming semester it was very
helpful for those who were unable to obtain one. The class was structured to help guide us
through our internships and learn about state government through people in the community who
would come talk to us during our weekly meetings on Friday mornings. Our assignments were
centered around the GLD structure creating three key insights for the class and having a final
poster presentation like the one we will do at Discover USC. This was the first time that I was
introduced to GLD and how I got involved with the program. Working on my leadership section
this year I reflected on all of the different connections that our professor had in state government
and reached out to him to get his thoughts on my idea of creating a career fair for political
science students. His guidance was very helpful and he informed me of the upcoming agency
day that the College of Arts and Sciences was hosting. I did not find opportunities that fit my
field there, but my peers were able to solidify internships and future jobs. Events like this are
making it easier for students to find opportunities so they do not have to do it just through
connections and word of mouth like I had in the past.
My experiences in the classroom and beyond the classroom have tought me valuable lessons
about the importance of creating connections and marketing yourself for job opportunities. It has
also allowed me to gain valuable experiences learning about state government through lectures
and first hand. I will be able to use these connections as I go on to find jobs in the future. This
lead me to also share my knowledge with those in my fraternity creating a professional
development seminar where I help create linked Ins, resumes, and teach people how to tie ties
along with any other questions. Learning about state government and forging a web of
connections in South Carolina has lead me to search for a job locally in state government where
I have gained the right skills to be able to be successful in my future.