Internship with Clinton campaign gives student insight

Jessica Robertson completed spring semester finals only to begin an hour-and-a-half daily commute to a 40-hour-a-week job – but to her, she wasn’t just entering data and making phone calls, she was making history.

Robertson, 20, a public relations major, worked on the Clinton campaign as an intern for three months at the in the Women’s Outreach office in Arlington.

“(It was) being a part of history,” Robertson said. “We were working on a historical campaign.”

Robertson knew before taking the internship that most of her tasks would be spreadsheets, data entry and phone calls. Yet, she met Clinton and helped with large fundraisers featuring speakers like Madeleine Albright.

“I had been waiting to work on this campaign forever,” Robertson said. “It is something I have always wanted to do.”

One of the most significant parts of the internship, Robertson said, was a Brown Bag series of lunches hosted by the Women’s Outreach for the interns. Different speakers came and spoke to the interns about their experiences on the Hillary campaign and more practically, how their lives have brought them to this point.

“Terry McAuliffe, Patti Solis-Doyle and Anne Lewis were real highlights,” Robertson said. “(They) really helped me to focus where I would maybe like to work on a campaign. I really think I would enjoy working in the scheduling and advance department in the future. It seemed like a job that was both fun and enjoyable, yet at the same time hard and rewarding.”

Robertson participated in the opening event for Club44, a movement from the Hillary campaign to reach out to 18-to-24-year-old-age bracket. Club44 was created to raise awareness in that age group, get them voting, and also to make Clinton the 44th U.S. president, Robertson said.

At this Club44 event, Robertson said about 8,000 attended at $20 per person. The event had musical performances and several speeches, including an appearance by Clinton. Robertson said the internship helped her form her future goals. Robertson aims to work next summer as an intern again, if Hillary gets the nomination, and then to be employed with her campaign in some way in the future. She is confident that Hillary will win the presidential election in 2008 because she is the only one qualified to walk into the White House with experience.

Robertson encourages VCU students to consider how many internship opportunities are available and, most importantly, to make sure to register to vote.

Robertson said a Students for Hillary organization is in the plans for VCU this fall.