Oct. 22, 2010
One reason students decide to come to Catholic University is because of the internship opportunities available to them in the nation's capital. Joe St. George, a senior politics major from Youngstown, Ohio, is now on his seventh internship as a CUA student, this time at the White House.
St. George learned in July that he had been selected for the program. "It was so cool to get a letter at my home with the White House seal on it," he says.
In September he started working in the White House Office of Communications, where he'll remain until Dec. 17. On a typical day, he tracks down news clippings in the morning, does research in the afternoon and completes other assignments that pop up in between. He describes every day in the office as a "great adventure."
The internship experience in the White House should serve St. George well in the future. "I want to work in politics," he says. "Whether that be reporting on government as a television reporter, working as a staffer on a campaign team or running for office myself, being in the field of politics is definitely where I belong."
St. George says that CUA provides students with internship opportunities that would be hard to find anywhere else. "CUA's location, its programs, and its willingness to be accommodating to students allow them to have more internships than most," he says.
As an intern, St. George has previously worked for a congressman and a senator, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, CNBC and NBC News. He spent last spring in London working in the British Parliament. He thinks these experiences helped him land the job in the White House.
On top of his class work and internships, St. George is a leader on campus. He's served as president of the College Democrats, student government delegate, orientation adviser and team leader at Junior Retreat.