Mason ICP Student Interns for the White House
by Aisha Jamil
This fall, Mason graduate student Randall Judt is an intern at the White House.
Judt, who is studying international commerce and policy in the School of Public Policy, works at the Office of Presidential Correspondence.
His day-to-day tasks consist of assisting with administrative projects inside the office. He also gets to listen to and interact with professionals who work at the White House through speaker programs offered to interns.
"The speakers are the best part of this internship because I get to hear what it is like to really work at the White House," Judt says.
Judt first heard about the internship from his mother, who read an article about the program that was published in the newspaper of his hometown of Largo, Fla.
"I applied [for the internship] never really expecting that I would actually get it," says Judt.
According to Judt, working in the Office of Presidential Correspondence is enjoyable, especially because of the people with whom he works.
"I get to work with people like Reggie Love, who is the president's personal assistant. He is roughly my age and has the experience of playing basketball at Duke. The other staffers are also in my age group, and most are new to the D.C. area themselves," Judt says. "This helps me out tremendously around the office every day."
After graduating from Mason, Judt hopes to get a job working for a corporation or the government in the Washington, D.C., area.
"I have been to places and seen things that most people never get a chance to see. It is an amazing experience and I recommend students to apply. The worst that can happen is that someone says no," Judt says. “And if you get the opportunity to intern at the White House, take it in a heartbeat!"
This article by originally appeared in the Mason Gazette, November 17, 2010.