There are lots of interns in D.C. this summer but not all of them get to watch the Senate debate. Not all of them have to. As an intern with the Coalition for American Leadership Abroad (COLEAD), though, Philip Holdredge '08 (Oneonta, N.Y.) is responsible for an e-mail update concerning specific Senate debates, and he sometimes has to sit them out -- even when they go until midnight.
COLEAD is an advocacy group for increasing government spending on foreign affairs programs (State Department, USAID, UN Contributions, Global HIV/AIDS Initiative, etc.). Spending for foreign affairs programs currently hovers around 1% of the federal budget, but COLEAD hopes to increase that number. The organization believes that these supported programs are vital to future security and helping people who live in some of the world's most impoverished nations.
Holdredge spends his time investigating the appropriations process on Capitol Hill and studying the debates regarding program funding. He also writes reports for e-mail updates to COLEAD's member advocacy groups and performs other communications jobs. His only colleague is COLEAD's president Harry C. Blaney III, which means that Holdredge spends most of his time working alone. "I have to figure out most of the job by trial and error," he said.
Holdredge was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to conduct a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students, but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to fund their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Holdredge works in an unpaid internship, he received a stipend from Hamilton's Joseph F. Anderson Internship Fund, given in honor of a 1944 Hamilton graduate who served the college for 18 years as vice president for communications and development. The fund in his name provides individual stipends to support full-time internships for students wishing to expand their educational horizons in preparation for potential careers after graduation.
Holdredge, who has experience with summer research, explained that he chose an internship for a more tangible summer experience. "This internship allows me to do research about things as they happen and to feel like I'm taking part in policy making. I really wanted to have some sort of real world application of what I have studied in my classes."
He is certainly getting that, Holdredge proved, with stories about his attempts to get into Senate hearings and the conversations he has with his boss Blaney, a long-standing member of the Foreign Service. Like most of his peers in D.C. this summer, Holdredge is having fun in his new environment. And his favorite part of his job is being able to watch Congress make decisions; "the most fun has been those few victories when I can actually get into a hearing on Capitol Hill and see policy-making in action."
Holdredge, a world politics major and rising senior, plans to pursue a doctorate in international studies, and hopes to take time after graduation to do more research or work in the Peace Corps.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
COLEAD is an advocacy group for increasing government spending on foreign affairs programs (State Department, USAID, UN Contributions, Global HIV/AIDS Initiative, etc.). Spending for foreign affairs programs currently hovers around 1% of the federal budget, but COLEAD hopes to increase that number. The organization believes that these supported programs are vital to future security and helping people who live in some of the world's most impoverished nations.
Holdredge spends his time investigating the appropriations process on Capitol Hill and studying the debates regarding program funding. He also writes reports for e-mail updates to COLEAD's member advocacy groups and performs other communications jobs. His only colleague is COLEAD's president Harry C. Blaney III, which means that Holdredge spends most of his time working alone. "I have to figure out most of the job by trial and error," he said.
Holdredge was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to conduct a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students, but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to fund their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Holdredge works in an unpaid internship, he received a stipend from Hamilton's Joseph F. Anderson Internship Fund, given in honor of a 1944 Hamilton graduate who served the college for 18 years as vice president for communications and development. The fund in his name provides individual stipends to support full-time internships for students wishing to expand their educational horizons in preparation for potential careers after graduation.
Holdredge, who has experience with summer research, explained that he chose an internship for a more tangible summer experience. "This internship allows me to do research about things as they happen and to feel like I'm taking part in policy making. I really wanted to have some sort of real world application of what I have studied in my classes."
He is certainly getting that, Holdredge proved, with stories about his attempts to get into Senate hearings and the conversations he has with his boss Blaney, a long-standing member of the Foreign Service. Like most of his peers in D.C. this summer, Holdredge is having fun in his new environment. And his favorite part of his job is being able to watch Congress make decisions; "the most fun has been those few victories when I can actually get into a hearing on Capitol Hill and see policy-making in action."
Holdredge, a world politics major and rising senior, plans to pursue a doctorate in international studies, and hopes to take time after graduation to do more research or work in the Peace Corps.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
