March 31, 2015

Washington beckons for keen interns

Special program offers students the chance to taste political life in Washington. 

There are unforgettable moments in people’s lives and for William Ashford (pictured above) a defining point in his life was his presence at the 2013 second inauguration ceremony in Washington for US President Barack Obama. 

The now final year UOW Civil Engineering student witnessed the historic event as an intern participating in the Uni-Capitol Washington Internship Program. It’s a program that has paired up-and-coming Australian students with various congressional offices for 16 years. To date 170 students across Australia have been successfully matched with different Congressional offices. 

UOW hasn’t sent a student on the program for two years but the Office of Global Student Mobility is keen to change that situation for 2016. 

Wollongong is one of 10 universities in Australia invited to submit applicants. 

“UOW is really fortunate to be a part of the Washington Internship Program as it is a wonderful opportunity for our students. We have received quite a few expressions of interest this year already and are looking forward to sending our students to represent UOW in Washington 2016,” according to Outbound Programs Co-ordinator Sarah Morrison.

William said he would actively encourage students to consider participating in the program. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt so much during my time in Washington from December 2012 to March 2013,” he said. 

William did his internship in the office of Republican Robert Aderholt where he attended committee hearings, drafted constituent correspondence and assisted generally with research. 

Mr Aderholt said William’s commitment, hard work, and presence had been an asset to his office. 

“His Australian accent has garnered the attention of many of my constituents on tours and over the phone,” Mr Aderholt said. 

William is still undecided on his final career path following his engineering studies but is keeping his options open. His extra curricular activities have included a second term stint as the elected undergraduate student on UOW’s Academic Senate. 

Expressions of interest in participating in the 2016 program can be emailed to Sarah Morrison at student-mobility@uow.edu.au or phone +61 2 4221 5400. OGSM is located at Counter 2 of Student Central.