06 | features
Aug. 31, 2016
FEATURES POLITICS
Drake student delegates travel for political conventions Hayley Hodges Contributing Writer hayley.hodges@drake.edu Iowa saw a plethora of political activity last year leading up to the Iowa caucus, but, the political excitement quickly diminished for most voters as soon as the ballots were cast. Students at Drake University were fully immersed with political events happening on and around campus leading up to and including the caucuses at the beginning of February 2016. From there, many students were ready to suspend their collective interest until election day coming up in November. For a couple of students however, Iowa was just the beginning. Sophomores Westhenry Loerger and Joshua Hughes had the unique opportunities to be delegates at the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, respectively. Loerger, a business major, became a delegate for Ted Cruz. Hughes, a law, politics and society major, was a delegate for Hillary Clinton. “I was elected as an alternate delegate to represent Iowa’s Third Congressional District at the district convention,” Loerger said in an email. “My election was truly a blessing from God because I was running against well-known local politicians and asking people who had never heard of me before to vote for me. It took around eight ballots but I finally prevailed as the third alternate of three.” Drake offered plentiful opportunities for students to get a peek at one side of politics, but in order to make it to the RNC, Loerger had to do more and reach out further.
“I expected some political opportunities but what I experienced leading up to the caucuses far exceeded my expectations. I was very involved; I met nearly every candidate, volunteered at the Republican debate in Des Moines and interned for the Cruz campaign,” Loerger said. “I have always been interested in politics, and going to Drake has given me unique opportunities to pursue my interests.”
“The convention itself was a whirlwind. I have a hard time describing it any other way. There was never a moment of non-activity — for 4 days, 24 hours a day, the city was buzzing with excitement and activity.” Joshua Hughes DNC Delegate
While it was Cruz who won in Iowa, Donald Trump is the Republican candidate who received the presidential nomination at the national convention. Although Loerger’s candidate may not have won, his trip wasn’t for naught. “I am still glad I attended the convention even though my candidate didn’t get the nomination, and it was great to meet a lot of other Cruz supporters form both Iowa and other states,” Loerger said. As a delegate for Clinton, Hughes’ trip to the DNC was cause for celebration as Clinton received the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party.
“I will never forget the moment when the DNC Secretary, Stephanie RawlingsBlake, reported that Hillary Rodham Clinton had received a majority of the votes and was the official nominee for President of the Democratic Party, and I’ll never forget when Hillary herself accepted the nomination,” Hughes said through an email interview. “I will also never forget the balloon drop. I’m 6’5” and I was neck-deep in balloons.” Hughes’ support for Clinton is long-lived and that drove him to push to become a delegate for her. “I decided I wanted to be a delegate about this time last year. By then I was convinced that Hillary would not only win Iowa, but that she would win the nomination and be our nominee, and I wanted to be there when we as a party made history.” Hughes noted much of the work involved to become a delegate and explained his calculated strategy involving plenty of campaigning and perseverance, but felt they paid off once he made it to the convention. “The convention itself was a whirlwind. I have a hard time describing it any other way. There was never a moment of non-activity — for 4 days, 24 hours a day, the city was buzzing with excitement and activity,” Hughes said. “Convention is basically a glorified four-day party. Delegates do very little — my only official duty was to sign a document indicating how I cast my vote (which I was pledged to). But it was still amazing to sit in the room where history was made.” SOPHOMORES Joshua Hughes (top) and Westhenry Loerger (bottom) traveled to Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively as delegates for their parties’ conventions. Loerger is pictured with US House Representative, Steve King. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOSHUA HUGHES AND WESTHENRY LOERGER.
POLITICS
Summer internships point students in new directions Brandi Dye Contributing Writer brandi.dye@drake.edu @14bad01
Through the help of Drake University’s Professional and Career Development Services program and advisors, the majority of complete at least one internship before graduation. Mikhail Koha Dei-Anang, a junior politics and international relations major, interned in the office of US Senator Al Franken, D-MN. “It’s much less ‘House of Cards’ than you would think,” Koha Dei-Anang said. A day in the life of a Senate intern included giving Capitol tours, doing research and interacting with constituents. “The best part was getting to interact with people,” Koha DeiAnang said. “It was getting to interact with different people through the lens of politics.” Koha Dei-Anang’s internship experience included in-depth research and interacting with people, while junior chemistry major Margaret Clapham’s research experience included
primarily in-depth research. “There were often days where I would go to the lab, not see anyone for eight hours and I would go home,” Clapham said, describing her work at the Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. REUs are funded by the National Science Foundation and place students at universities nationwide to get hands-on research experience. “The lab experience, in general, I think I’ll be using in the future,” Clapham said. “It’s educational experience and the research experience. They stress the experience portion.” Experience is often just as valuable as any particular skill learned at an internship. “Just because you have an internship that might not contribute directly to a skill set that you need for a future career, the experience of a day-to-day job, working with other employees and different kinds of people is good experience for life and for any career that you’re going to have,” said junior Emily Furlow, a marketing and data analytics
major who was a research intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis this summer. Since so many Drake students spend their summers as interns, both Koha Dei-Anang and Furlow heard about their positions through their classmates, using on-campus connections to foster real-world connections. “I heard about the internship from one of the girls at school, the president of my business fraternity,” Furlow said. “She interned at the St. Louis Fed last year.” Internships expose students to career avenues they had not previously thought of. “(My internship) made me think more about being a staffer and being on a legislative team. It was something I didn’t completely have in my plans, but it definitely seems like a really interesting and fulfilling job,” Koha Dei-Anang said. “It’s really changed how I view a career in politics and opened up what I can do when I graduate.” Despite enjoying the level of professionalism and the experience of conducting research, Clapham realized that
the engineering and biochemistry sides of her field might not be for her. “While I enjoyed what I did this summer, I don’t necessarily think this specific area is the perfect fit for me,” Clapham said. She disliked her project, which was to design a new method of clinical drug testing. Furlow thought her majors were not particularly utilized at the Federal Reserve Bank. But the experience proved to be eye opening. “Because of the different networking areas through the different parts of the bank,” Furlow said. “I was able to see other areas were I would be able to apply my majors.” For many Drake students, internships are their introduction to working in the “real world,” with all the perks and pressures of any other employee. “D.C. really seemed like a happy hour kind of city, at least where I was on the Hill,” said Koha Dei-Anang about his experiences trading Trump jokes and discussing legislation. “It’s like a mass exodus out of the Senate and House buildings to
some of the restaurants and bars around the Capitol.” The internship application process is different across disciplines, but have a few things in common: resumes, cover letters and letters of recommendation. Advisors often serve as excellent resources to help with the process. “(My advisor) wrote, what I assume, was a good letter of recommendation,” Clapham said. “He was very encouraging.” Although the fall semester is just beginning, Koha Dei-Anang is already thinking ahead to next summer. “I thought about trying to get another internship, but I don’t know if I want to be (far away) for another three months and not take classes here and (instead) try to do something around here politically.” Clapham recommends a summer foray into the workforce. “I highly, highly, highly encourage students to do this because it gives you a lot of confidence and its a completely different experience than working in a class setting.”