For Immediate Release

Date:  Dec. 1, 2006

BLOOMSBURG— After completing an internship, a Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania student knows she wants a career in government service.

Monica Walker, Philadelphia, is a senior with a major in political science. She competed for the Harrisburg Internship Semester and landed a job earlier this year working in the Harrisburg office of State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Philadelphia). 

Walker was unsure what the internship would hold for her, but she was excited for the opportunity. “I was leery; I thought that I might just be doing secretarial work, but I did more then that,” said Walker.

When the Senate was in session, the interns could not leave the office until the session was over, so Walker used her time working and writing position papers. One of the papers Walker wrote was on the topic of African Americans and AIDS, looking at funding through state and federal levels.

“I think it was the best academic work I’ve ever done,” said Walker.

According to Walker, Hughes quoted information from her paper at the International AIDS Conference. Walker contacted people from every state to compile her information and met with Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Public Health and Welfare Estelle Richman. 

While serving as a full-time intern, Walker was also a full-time student living in Harrisburg. “It was a lot of work, but I lived close to the Capitol so I could walk to work everyday,” Walker said.

Walker also worked in Hughes’ West Philadelphia district office during the summer.

After graduation, Walker wants to attend law school at the University of Pittsburgh. But she admits if she is offered a state government job in Harrisburg, she will go back. She hopes to one day work in an appointed position in the government. 

“This experience changed my life. I got something that academics could never teach me,” said Walker. 

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 8,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Professional Studies, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.