Today our oldest daughter finished up a paid summer internship for the Governor of Maryland.  Yesterday, she presented her policy paper to Governor O’Malley, as seen in the photos below, taken by a press photographer.  Also in attendance was the Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services, and other senior staff in the Governor’s reception room in the Maryland State Capital.  The shot above shows the cover of the 30 page policy proposal dealing with juvenile recidivism. 

In this internship she has also written blogs for the Governor, done research to see if there was a connection between the percentage of population without health insurance and economic growth or stagnation in all of the 50 states, began new social media strategies for the Governor, and did research for a PowerPoint she created comparing Maryland’s overall tax burden to that of other states. She even saw a Baltimore Oriole’s game from the Governor’s box, while eating crab cakes.  I know she learned a lot from the whole internship experience, and it has clarified for her possible career paths, as well as introduced her to people who can support those paths in the future.

I remember four years ago, when visiting colleges, one of the things she liked about St. John’s College was the Governor of Maryland had an internship program; she thought that would be perfect during the summer between her junior and senior year.  I said, yeah, right, don’t pick a college on that basis, as it seemed like a long shot.  Well, she liked St. John’s College for all sorts of other reasons that have already been discussed on this blog, and I’ve been stunned to watch her sally forth with all her prophetic expectation and not only land this internship just like she suggested all those years ago, but also take the scene by storm with such aplomb. 

To quote an email by her supervisor this morning asking to talk about her staying on through the school year, “Thanks again for everything, you really kicked ass this summer, and produce top notch work.” 

I’m one proud mama!