As internships are in high demand in today’s workforce, many students fall below the wayside or wait until their junior or senior year to start applying. Internships not only cultivate and prepare students for the real world, but they also provide ample opportunities, connections, and experiences that enhance, develop and guide one toward their career aspirations.
Freshman computer information systems major Kameelah Freeman represents the few who begin their professional development early on, earning an in-person summer internship with the Texas House of Representatives under the leadership of Texas State Representative Evelina “Lina” Ortega.
“I am beyond excited, surprised, a tad bit nervous,” Freeman said. “But I am really just a ball of energy and jubilant to start my internship!”
The El Paso, Texas, native will be responsible for assisting Rep. Ortega with classes that will allow people from Mexico to gain citizenship in the United States. Along with that main priority, Freeman will be tasked with various other administrative duties assigned by Ortega.
With Freeman’s internship being in-person amid the coronavirus pandemic, she believes it will allow her more hands-on experiences that you cannot obtain from a zoom call.
“Being in person will allow me to fully see what goes on in a state representative’s office,” she said. “If the internship was virtual, you would get a glass eye view like looking through a window. But when you’re actually in-person, you kind of have to jump in with both feet. You can’t be scared. You fully get to see everything that comes with it. And it’ll allow me to network with the other interns that are there too.”
Aspiring to be a research intelligence analyst for the FBI and a United States Special Agent, Freeman hopes to gain several helpful tools and connections from the Texas House of Representatives internship program.
“I really want to just continue to be detail-oriented because in the field of law, you could miss one minor detail and it could cost you a case. It could cost you someone’s freedom,” she said. “That could be the difference between if someone goes to jail or if someone gets to go home to their family. And I want to be able to be detail-oriented while multitasking. So I just hope that she can help me with that. And really, I just want to be like a sponge. I want to learn everything that I can.”
According to Freeman, equally representing all people regardless of creed, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender is extremely important to both Ortega and Freeman as Ortega is Mexican American, and Freeman is African American. They wish to ensure that the law is fair for everyone, with a special emphasis on empathy.
“Every situation isn’t black and white, some require due diligence, and we want to maintain fairness and integrity,” Freeman said. “We both recognize there’s a problem and there’s a disproportionate amount of people of color in prisons right now. So we’re just trying to work to fix that, and that’s our biggest feat.”
To those fellow Hornets looking for internships, Freeman advises them to take risks and wait for the reward.
“Don’t be scared, just do it,” she said, “I honestly did not know if I was going to get the internship, especially being a freshman, but it doesn’t hurt to try. And you never know until you do it.”