More Than a Steppingstone: What I Learned as a Congressional Intern

Sophia Hinich interned at the Congresswoman Budzinski’s office on Capitol Hill. She shares how working in D.C. during election season provided unique insights and helped build confidence, even in moments of self-doubt. She offers heartfelt advice to future interns: explore the city, stay open to unexpected experiences, and remember your worth. Ultimately, the internship was not just a career step, but a time of personal growth and discovery.

It has been both an honor and pleasure to Intern in DC this semester. It feels a bit surreal that my time here has finally come to an end. As cliche as it sounds, time flew by faster than I could keep up with. Election season was definitely a time to be working here. Although this session was perhaps more chaotic than previous years, I was alongside interns who uplifted me, leading us to bond through the hard work. I hope the next class of interns has an equally rewarding time.

Like many other students in this program, I had the chance to intern on capitol hill. I worked in Congresswoman Budzinski office (UIUC’s representative!) which happened more by chance but ended up being exactly the right fit for me. Being a freshman office, there were lots of young staffers working there, one of whom was previously an IIW student himself. Because there’s hardly anyone in the office over the age of 30, it was a perfect balance of work and fun. There also wasn’t that feeling of hierarchy where you feel like you need to earn your respect; it was more of a situation where everyone was fully involved and working together. While I’ll certainly miss my colleagues in the office, I’m equally excited to see where my life leads next.

With that, here are a few words of advice for future IIW classes:

• Go explore! For some of you this may be the first time you’ve been to DC. For others, DC may be more familiar. In either case, there is always much to do here. Take a scenic walk home from work instead of the bus one day. Treat yourself to a nice dinner every once in a while. Have a chat with a stranger on the subway. Connect with the Illinois alumni here. Find that work/life balance. You’ll do great.
  
• Expect nothing, experience everything. You may finish this program and feel that you would love to come back and work here someday. Or you may find that this wasn’t everything you dreamed of. If that latter ends up being the case for you, I encourage you to not let that discourage you from making the most of things. There is a lot more value to this experience than using it as a steppingstone to your future career. The professional experience alone and the connections you’ll make will be an asset no matter where you go in life.
  
• Be proud of yourself. The work you do as an intern is as valuable, even if it doesn’t feel like it at times. Never undermine or undersell the effort you put in to get here. I say this because I felt very out of place when I first arrived in DC and I started my job. If that resonates with you then it’s worth reminding yourself that you were carefully picked out of a big pool of applicants; that alone is representative of your talent on some level. All this is to say- imposter syndrome is real (and sometimes it never goes away) so this is a friendly reminder that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.