Panetta Institute experience led alumnus back to D.C.

Steven Avila’s passion for politics and government took him to Washington, D.C., in 2010.

Now, it’s taken him back to work in the White House. The Palmdale native – a fall 2011 graduate with a degree in business administration – got his first taste of life in the nation’s capital through the Panetta Institute for Public Policy’s Congressional Internship program. “After completing my Panetta internship, I was inspired to come back to Washington and learn more about the system,” he said. “Now that I’m interning at the White House, I am able to see it through an exciting new perspective.” Avila, 22, readily concedes that he applied for the internship because he “wanted to seek out a unique opportunity” after graduation, but didn’t think he had much of a chance at landing one of the coveted spots. “But then I remembered an old saying, ‘You have no chance, unless you take one.’ And here I am,” he said. He started the four-month stint in January, working in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. The office handles official correspondence on behalf of the President, responding to the letters he receives. It also documents and catalogues gifts sent to the First Family. While he isn’t sure what’s in store for him next, he’s excited to be in Washington. “The city is filled with brilliant and interesting people,” he said. “There are also opportunities here that you can’t find back home. “After both internship experiences, it’s hard not to want to be a part of it in some capacity,” he said. Avila’s political resume includes serving in student government while in high school and helping with voter registration drives while a student at Antelope Valley College. His parents were politically minded, he said, and that served to inspire him as well. “My mother, an elementary school teacher, and my father, a Los Angeles police officer, always kept me involved in the world around me,” he said. “Someday I would love to run for office,” he said before leaving CSUMB for his Panetta internship in 2010. “When my third-grade teacher told the class that anyone could be President of the United States, it really resonated with me. I’m not saying I want to be president, but I believe that if you work hard and do the right thing, there is opportunity to be had.” While he’s excited about the opportunities to be had in Washington, he hasn’t forgotten California.

“I sometimes miss home (Palmdale), and that beautiful Monterey coastline.” According to the White House Office of Communications, the mission of the internship program is to make the White House accessible to future leaders and to prepare those devoted to public service for future leadership opportunities.

Additional information about the White House internship program is available here. The application for the Fall 2012 program is available on the website; deadline is April 1, 2012.

Zoe Carter, another CSUMB graduate, was a White House intern last fall. Read her story here.