We took three courses that met once each week. We were all working on a thesis as an independent research course, as well. When we weren't in class, we spent 20-40 hours in our internships in the British parliament. This would often include late nights writing position papers, caucusing with other MPs/staff, and of course, strategizing over a pint in the several pubs within the houses of parliament.
The housing in central London left a lot to be desired, but hey, we were in central London and I wasn't home much. Too busy studying, researching, working, and exploring.
This was one of the most profound experiences during my college years and informed my future career paths for years to come. Most notably: while I learned a great deal from my internship and enjoyed many parts of the experience, I realized I had no interest in the glacial pace of law making. Even though I never ended up working in politics, I walked away with many professional skills that I've used throughout my career since.
A great program and experience!
What would you improve about this program?
No internship is experience is perfect of course. However, I felt the Hansard Society team could have provide each internship supervisor with strategies and project ideas for incoming interns. My MP (member of parliament) had never had an intern before and really wasn't prepared with projects and a direction for my position. I was able to formulate this myself after a few weeks, but this is a program design element that HS could have implemented. Still a great experience and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a political internship.
