Students in government
The student-led Stanford in Government program offers fellowship opportunities to those interested in public administration and policy. Stanford News spoke with two students to learn about their summer government jobs.
Over the years, Stanford has educated countless government and policy professionals who have made careers in public service. This summer, dozens of undergraduates are following in their footsteps and contributing to the field through Stanford in Government (SIG), a student-led affiliate of the Haas Center for Public Service that offers Cardinal Quarter service opportunities in public administration, policy and civic engagement.
SIG was founded in 1963 as the Stanford in Washington program, to support students in finding internships in Congress. As part of Cardinal Quarter and with support from alumni, 77 students are currently engaged in SIG government or policy-focused public service fellowships this summer in places like Colorado, New York, Spain and Morocco. These fellowships are among more than 560 offered by 39 campus departments and programs to support students in pursuing full-time service locally, nationally and globally.
Stanford News caught up with two students working this summer through SIG Cardinal Quarter in Washington, D.C., and Hong Kong to hear about the work they’re doing, what they’re learning, and how they’re contributing to Stanford’s tradition of civic engagement.
David Mollenkamp, ’19
Image credit: Courtesy of David Mollenkamp
Major: Political Science, History
Organization: Center for Legislative Archives
Location: Washington, D.C.
Why did you choose to work with the Center for Legislative Archives?
I found that the position perfectly combined my interest in government and history. It also allowed me to interact with people outside of the academic and professional realm by writing documents that will be available for public use. I also had an interest in archival work and I thought this internship would help me decide whether being an archivist or a historian more broadly was a career path well suited for me.
Tell us about your job.
I’m focused on writing for an upcoming book project. It’s a teaching guide for high school government and U.S. history teachers that presents a series of cartoons about American foreign policy in the 20th century from the National Archives. I was responsible for writing the first drafts of the majority of the cartoon descriptions. I’ve also written a number of social media posts and website articles for the center on congressionally relevant topics, including the Equal Rights Amendment, the Immigration Act of 1917 and congressional politics at the turn of World War II. Knowledge about American history was absolutely vital for this internship.
What have you learned?
Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned for my future career is the ability to write clearly and effectively. For many of my writing projects, I wrote five to 10 drafts before they were approved. The process of writing such a large number of drafts gave me the discipline to write well and at a slower pace than I might usually write. I also learned how to track down documents in an archive, which is not as simple as it sounds. Finally, I’ve bettered my people skills and learned how to reach out to people.
What are your long-term goals?
After leaving Stanford, I intend to continue my education. I want to pursue a doctorate in either history or political science, hopefully even spending a year or two in England. After that, I want to be a teacher or a political consultant. In those positions, I hope to spend the vast majority of my time educating the public and government officials about important issues relating to governance and history.
Nita Gegeshidze, ’19
Image credit: Courtesy of Nita Gegeshidze
Major: International Relations
Organization: Justice Centre
Location: Hong Kong
Why did you choose to work with the Justice Centre?
I was 10 years old when my country, Georgia, was invaded by Russia. Though none of my family members was harmed and my home survived the bombings, I can never forget how vulnerable and helpless I felt during those five days of war. Coming out of the experience, I realized how lucky I had been to be given a chance to continue living a peaceful life with my parents and grandparents in my childhood home. But the thought that kept lingering in my head was, “What about those 300,000 internally displaced people in Georgia who were deprived of that opportunity?”
As I grew up, I found myself further engrossed in the issues surrounding forced migrants.
Choosing to work with the Justice Centre in Hong Kong was part of this long-lasting endeavor. I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding forced migrants outside of my country and to acquire the policy and legal tools that would help me advocate for and protect their rights in the future.
Tell us about your job.
In the Justice Centre’s policy and advocacy team, I mainly focus on the Universal Periodic Review process, where I research countries whose international human rights proclamations align with those advocated for by the Justice Centre, and reach out to their foreign ministries to issue recommendations to the Hong Kong government. I am also charged with getting in touch with high-level officials in foreign parliaments to call on them to raise the issue of Hong Kong’s deteriorating human rights environment in their legislative bodies to increase the international pressure on the government.
In the center’s research team, I dedicate most of my time to researching and composing sections of the upcoming Justice Centre report on transit trafficking. More particularly, I am exploring how Hong Kong acts as a productive point creating a buffer between origin and destination trafficking states when it comes to forced labor in the migrant domestic worker community. While doing so, I am learning about the systemic policy loopholes, flawed legislative practices and defective visa policies currently existing almost unchallenged in Hong Kong.
Lastly, I engage with the legal team by participating in their refugee law training sessions and court simulations and sitting in on client interviews.
What are you learning through this work?
These opportunities help me gain a strong understanding of what hardships persecuted victims of war or violence go through in their transition to a new environment. Whether it is the meager rental subsidies granted to refugees by the state or their inability to earn their own living, Hong Kong’s forced migrants live in dire conditions and in constant need of significantly greater care and attention. Seeing Justice Centre caseworkers bravely tackle Hong Kong’s less than 1 percent substantiation rate for asylum seeker claims, however, makes me that much more determined to contribute to raising the voices of this vulnerable group of the global society.
What are your long-term goals?
Growing up in post-Soviet Georgia and seeing a lot of hardship around me, I have always found myself interested in civic engagement. One of the areas I have found as an outlet for my passion has been human rights work. For this reason, since high school I have tried to do internships and engage in independent work to help advocate for forced migrants, religious minorities and underprivileged youth seeking quality education in developing countries like Georgia.
Being granted the Stanford in Government fellowship in Hong Kong was a remarkable opportunity for me to continue taking steps in this direction and ultimately become the kind of human rights advocate I have met and looked up to at my internships.