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[Emily Bailey] Hi. My name is Emily Bailey. I'm a senior political science and American politics student at the University of North Georgia on the Gainesville campus. In the fall of 2016 I was a congressional intern for Congressman Doug Collins in his Washington DC office.

[Interviewer] And Emily, can you tell us a little bit why you sought out this internship?

[Emily] As a political science and American politics concentration I've always wanted the chance to work in Washington DC. I previously worked on Congressman Collins’ reelection campaign and I knew his staff and I knew his team and I met him a couple times. And I knew that if I got the chance to ever work for him again I would definitely not pass that up. So I got an email about him needing interns in the fall and when I got that email I knew it was definitely an opportunity I wanted to seek out.

[Interviewer] Okay. Are internships required for your degree?

[Emily] Yes. Because of American politics concentration a 12 hour internship is required.

[Interviewer] Okay. So once you just kind of figured out what you had an interest in and this opportunity arose, how did you proceed with just getting this internship started and it counted towards that internship requirement you have?

[Emily] The first thing I did was go see Dr. Young on the Gainesville campus. He was my adviser and he was very supportive and encouraging of me seeking out this internship and he recommended that I go to Dr. Cavalli who is the internship adviser on the Dahlonega campus. And Dr. Cavalli was the one that got me the paperwork that I sent to DC that just verified that it would count for class credit. And then I also did daily journals for Dr. Cavalli when I was there just explaining to him what I was doing, what I learned. And then I also did a paper at the end of the semester that just summarized my experience as an intern.

[Interviewer] Okay. So, can you kind of tell us again, tell us where your internship was at, and your, your title and then just an overall, the different things you were completing during your internship?

[Emily] Yes. I was a congressional intern for Congressman Doug Collins. He's Georgia's Ninth District congressman. When Congress was out of session it was very much administrative duties and just helping out around the office. However, when Congress was in session things picked up very quickly. I was thankful enough to work in an office where they allowed interns to really have freedom to go to events that were in our areas of interest so I went to a lot of Homeland Security and Armed Services hearings, mark-ups and testimonies.

We would take notes for the legislative director and legislative assistant, type them up and give them to them. We also worked on one of the Congressman's bills. He had a pharmaceutical bill that he was a co-sponsor on. The bill protected mom-and-pop pharmacies from pharmaceutical benefit managers. And so, one of my jobs was to call constituents that owned pharmacies and just inform them about the bill, make sure they knew what was happening in the process, and get their contact information so we could keep them up to date on the bill.

[Interviewer] Okay. So you were talking about being in these different sessions and taking notes -- what was that like? I mean, can you, I mean, I can only imagine the different people who were involved in these sessions and then just, I guess, what is that like? I mean, who, who were in these different sessions, and can you kind of tell us were you, were you having to write right really quickly or is it kind of a slow pace? Can you kind of give us an idea about that?

[Emily] Everything was very fast-paced. So the hearings and mark-ups, especially on Armed Services was these four-star, highly-decorated generals and army personnel and that was such a humbling experience because you know you're sitting in a room with all these very knowledgeable people who have fought for our country and they're, they’re giving updates to senators and congressmen on national security, foreign policy, counterterrorism tactics and it's just, other than it just being one of my main areas it's just such an amazing experience just being an American.

[Interviewer] Okay, and then you said you got to participate and just this, you know, the actual, the actual work that this congressman, congressman was doing and then also informing the public and his constituents about the this law he was co-sponsoring with. So like, what was that like -- calling them? Like were, did they, were you, how much of the process were you going over with them?

[Emily] Well, first off, all the mom-and-pop pharmacy owners were very supportive of the bill for the most part and they were very encouraged that they knew that their congressman was very proactive about this issue. So we really just informed them that it was happening and we got their contact information so that emails could be sent to them just updating them on the progress of the bills, whether it went to mark-ups, whether there was hearings or testimonies about it. Whenever the Congressman was on the House floor debating it, we made sure that they know, they knew what the Congressman was doing.

[Interviewer] Okay. Can you tell us, you taught us some really great, like fascinating, things. Was there like a favorite part that you had as far as the work they had you do?

[Emily] One of my favorite things was taking constituents around on Capitol tours. So a couple months before constituents know they're coming to DC they can call their congressman's office and schedule a tour. And I gave the tours. And they would come up to his office first and we'd give them a tour of the office. They would meet the staff, they would get to go in his office and sit in his chair. And a lot of times these were families with very young kids so the kids were just so excited about it. After that we would take them down to the basement of the Capitol building and we were taken to through the tunnels and, and that was really the start of the tour. And it's really cool because these tunnels are what the congressmen and the senators use to get to hearings and mark-ups, so you, on any day you can see congressmen and senators running back and forth trying to get to meetings and it's just really cool to be able to see people that you see on the news and on c-span and that are very famous just kind of running around doing their job. And that was cool for the families to see.

[Interviewer] Okay, Emily, can you kind of tell us a little bit about how this internship and how your major just kind of go together?

[Emily] Yes. So I really got hands-on experience in the legislative process and just being able to watch the process unfold. So as an American politics concentration obviously that's very important for the American political system. When I got back from DC this semester actually I'm taking Dr. Cavalli's legislative processes class and he always talks about mark-ups and hearings and the congressional leadership structure and how things work in Congress. And it makes the class more enjoyable and a lot easier for me because I have experience in that and I've observed that for a whole semester, so it goes hand in hand with my concentration and major.

[Interviewer] Okay. Emily, can you tell us a little bit about your goals and how this internship affected those goals or maybe changed those goals?

[Emily] Yes. When I was in DC I, like I said, got a lot of legislative experience and I also got some legal experience which is what I plan to do now. The Congressman sits on judiciary committee, so I was able to see the more judicial process of legislation and that has really inspired me to go towards more the legal field. When I got back from DC I took Dr. Wilson's judicial processes class and Dr. Young's American constitutional law class, and those two classes and my experience and observations with the congressmen on the judiciary committee have really inspired me to go to law school and to incorporate politics and law anywhere I can in my career.

[Interviewer] Okay. Awesome. Thanks so much Emily.