CSUMB student spends semester in Washington, D.C.

Hannah Plummer wants to work in a political organization or for an elected official. Washington, D.C., seems like the perfect place for her.

The senior business major will get a head start on her career aspirations as she takes part in the Congressional Internship Program sponsored by the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

California State University campuses choose one student each year to participate in the program. Interns are selected based on an exemplary academic record as well as an interest in politics and public service. Plummer is this year’s representative from CSU Monterey Bay.

“Members of Congress are up for re-election this year, and some of the work that I do may help to change this nation’s future in a very small way,” Plummer said. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend three months in D.C. doing something that I’m passionate about.”

After two weeks of orientation at the Panetta Institute – located on the CSUMB campus – the interns travel to Washington, D.C., where they spend 11 weeks working in the office of a member of Congress from California.

The orientation, which started Aug. 13, includes classes on legislative and administrative structures of a Congressional office; House leadership and committee roles; rules and procedures of debate and lawmaking; budget and appropriations processes; White House relations with Congress; and the role of the press, giving the interns a strong foundation for their work.

While in D.C., they attend regular seminars with government leaders on various aspects of policy, including economics, the environment, foreign affairs and defense resources. Plummer, 21, will earn a semester’s worth of academic credits. She’s on schedule to graduate in May.

“I’m hoping to learn what life path I want to take, to learn about myself and my position as a citizen,” she said of her time in D.C. “I will learn as much as I can about American politics and why our nation is in the bind that it is in today.”

She’s been assigned to work in the office of Congressman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), who represents California's 21st District.

Plummer has been politically active since coming to CSUMB in 2008. She’s been a volunteer in several local election campaigns, and been a member and chair of the Otter College Republicans, “with the hope of someday making it to Washington, D.C.,” she said.

That opportunity is in front of her, and her immediate goal is to take full advantage of it.

As for the future, “graduate school is an option sometime in the future, but I am more focused on a job right now. I’m open to any type of work, so I don’t have a specific path planned yet.”

Learn more about the Panetta Institute’s Congressional Internship Program.

Photo: Congressman Kevin McCarthy and Hannah Plummer