Interning in the Halls of Power

Penn State senior Jacquie Pratt might somehow be able to walk the halls of the White House again some day, but for now she treasures memories of working for the president.

“On my last day, I remember dragging my feet to the exit because I knew once the big iron gate shut behind me, I would no longer have the privilege of entering the complex every day,” says the Lancaster, Pa., native. “I would now have to take pictures from outside like everyone else.”

Pratt got the chance to do something very few college students get to do—intern in the White House. She worked for the National Economic Council under the Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Trade, and Food Assistance. She participated in White House events, such as the lighting of the national Christmas tree and the Thanksgiving turkey pardoning. She also assisted with the Helping America’s Youth Conference, hosted by Laura Bush, which unites and celebrates initiatives that reach out to at-risk children.

“It was such a special experience for me, and I was so happy to serve in any capacity I could,” Pratt says.

Pratt studied in Washington, D.C., with a College of Communications/College of Agricultural Sciences program that places a number of students in the city to take courses and have an internship—similar to a studyabroad program. She took a break from the University Park campus from August to December 2005, and she says it was time well spent because she wants to work in a field that uses both of her degrees, Agricultural and Extension Education and Journalism. “This gave me a new perspective and a new option for my future,” Pratt says.

While working in the White House, Pratt says she learned a lot about civic engagement and serving the community. She considered herself a pretty informed citizen, but she says after working in the White House for four months, she realized she didn’t know as much as she thought.

Pratt believes the highlight of her internship was being able to get a glimpse of “the man behind the president.”

“I saw a man with a vision for the country—a man who wanted to make a long-term impact instead of a short-term fix,” she says. “I saw a man who would do what he thought was right above what was popular.”

—Bethany Fehlinger