Sun Devil in Washington D.C.: Inside the life of a Congressional intern
After growing up in Arizona and spending the majority of her life in the Valley of the Sun, third-year Sun Devil Amy Noriega Pineda left her home at Arizona State University’s West Valley campus to experience life as a Washington D.C. Congressional intern.
“This is my first time in D.C. — this is actually my first time on the East Coast. I was very nervous prior to going to the internship,” Noriega Pineda said. “I was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that I was gonna be leaving home for so long.”
ASU has a presence in Washington that empowers students to prepare for careers in national civic leadership – including roles in congressional offices, national security, business, journalism, law and the judiciary and more.
“I heard about this program through my friend, his name is Damien. He also goes to ASU with me and he’s a political science major,” Noriega Pineda said. “And then I brought it up to my advisor. My advisor was very supportive, she told me, ‘If you could do this, it wouldn’t look bad on your resume.’”
Originally a biology major on the pre-med track in her first year at ASU, Noriega Pineda is double majoring in psychology at the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, and transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o studies at The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
“I started looking into law,” she said. “I wanted to go into law school, but neither of the majors I have are law-oriented or even political science. I felt like I had a very straight-and-narrow path of what it was that I wanted to do. But, if I look back on my academic journey, it hasn't been straight or narrow. I've changed a lot of my life, my interests.”
As president of ASU’s Hispanic Honor Society and vice president of services for the West Valley campus’ undergraduate student government, Noriega Pineda is very involved on campus. She said that her breadth of experience and fluidity throughout her studies helped to prepare her to be comfortable with traveling to and working in an unfamiliar city.
“Right now, my favorite part of living in D.C. has been exploring the city. Academics aside, this is the first time I'm completely independent from home,” Noriega Pineda said. “It's been fun to be able to figure myself out as a person, and then also get to know a completely different area.”
Outside of her internship duties, Noriega Pineda is soaking up time visiting historical monuments like the Lincoln Memorial and the White House while enjoying the colder weather.
“There's a lot of history here, a lot of monuments sites. I don't see that in Arizona. And then I intern on Capitol Hill,” she said. “With the current political climate, it's been pretty interesting to see the dynamic from within, especially getting to see Congress members, being able to see senators and have that proximity to them.”
As a legislative intern, Noriega Pineda’s day-to-day work often consists of constituent correspondence.
“I'm answering calls, mail, letters and even electronic communication with them. I also draft links for the congressman who I work under,” she said. “And we work a lot as a team. I sit in on meetings with stakeholders, I'm able to sometimes share insights. I have a lot of knowledge in the healthcare and immigration portfolio.”
“I do a lot of coffee chats, I love doing that. I love networking,” she added.
Noriega Pineda is interning in Michigan's 13th congressional district office, which encompasses Detroit and some of its suburbs, represented by Congressman Shri Thanedar.
“He's so cool, and he’s really passionate about what he does. So I was really happy to have been selected to his office — because besides the Arizona offices, which obviously I'm an Arizona native — he was pretty high up there for someone I wanted to intern with,” Noriega Pineda said.
While interning on Capitol Hill, Noriega Pineda has adjusted to a new way of working.
“The hours are a bit unconventional for me. It's something I've never done before,” she said. “When the house is in session, meaning they're voting, the members are in office, we go from 9 am to 6 pm. And when they are not, we go from 9 am to 5 pm, which was something I wasn't used to.”
“And then on top of that, it's pretty vigorous work. I adopted the term of calling the office a revolving door, because there's always something happening. I can't say I've ever been bored,” she added.
As her internship experience begins to draw to a close, Noriega Pineda is looking forward to spending more time exploring the East Coast before heading back home.
“I really want to go to the Botanical Garden. They've launched their orchid exhibition, orchids are my favorite flower,” she said.
When asked if she saw a future of herself living and working in Washington after graduation, she was still undecided.
“It's something that I've thought about. I love my internship, I do,” she said. “But I feel myself as a more mobile person and I can't do the 9 am to 5 pm desk work. So, right now I'm undecided. But, if in due time and this is where I end up, I wouldn't be opposed. I really like it here.”