Ohio House Democratic Caucus Internship

For my STEP Signature Project, I interned with the Ohio House Democratic Caucus. I have been interning with the OHDC since May of 2017 but my STEP Signature Project allowed me to remain in Columbus and continue my work for the summer. My official position with OHDC is as a finance intern which entails work such as donor research, the preparation of fundraising call lists, as well as staffing any OHDC fundraising events.

What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?

From the beginning of my STEP experience, I was planning on using this opportunity to discover if I wanted to pursue a career in politics. The OHDC staff mainly consists of recent Ohio State graduates so many of them followed the same path that I am currently taking. As the dog days of summer progressed and the tension of the 2018 election escalated, I couldn’t help but notice that I was losing my passion for politics. Frankly, our office was overworked and underappreciated. This feeling wore on the faces of most of the staff as we could not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the 2018 election seemingly so far away, the work began to feel monotonous and I started to question whether I had a future in politics.

Yet, despite my mid-summer crisis, I began to realize why I started the internship in the first place. After meeting candidates, attending events, and listening to the passions of all of the statewide campaigns, I felt my passion reignited. I remembered why my work mattered. The candidates and current house members of the OHDC might never know who I am but I understand that it is my responsibility to help all of these individuals get elected to the Ohio Statehouse. What began as a resume-building internship opportunity transitioned into a personal project. By the end of my STEP Signature Project, I was mentally and emotionally invested in every one of our candidates because I truly believe that my work with the OHDC will flip Ohio to a blue state.

What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?

As discussed previously, meeting the candidates, attending events, and listening to others talk about why they chose to campaign for office led to my transformation. For the months of May to June, my work mainly consisted of office work: this work included donor research, list building, and assembling mailers. No one involved in politics would call this exciting work. It takes a bit of motivation to sit at a desk for 6 hours a day and continuously type financial figures into a Google Sheet. The entire OHDC staff bonded together over this work because we all knew we were working toward the same common goal. Nevertheless, I started to doubt whether politics was in my future after graduation.
The introduction of campaign events into my schedule eased these doubts. After months of seeing names such as Beth Liston or Mary Lightbody over and over while conducting donor research, I attended an event at the home of Richard Cordray, the Democratic candidate for Governor. The event was a cookout that invited all of the statewide candidates for the Ohio House and Senate. Upon arriving the atmosphere felt surreal as I was surrounded by some real live government officials including Richard Cordray, Betty Sutton, Fred Strahorn, among countless others. While it might sound nerdy to say I was starstruck, I did feel like I was in the presence of celebrities.

It was at this event that I regained my motivation to be involved with politics. After finally meeting the names I had been hearing from the beginning of my internship, it was refreshing to learn about the personalities and motivations behind all of the candidates. Further, having the opportunity to listen to the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates, minority house leader of the state of Ohio, as well as the Secretary of State candidate for Ohio was the highlight of the entire experience. Not only did their words reinvigorate my passion for politics but I genuinely felt that one day I would return to an event similar to this one but as a candidate instead of an unpaid intern.

Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?

Like most political science majors, my major existential crisis is the debate between a career in law or politics. This crisis did not dissipate prior to or even during my internship experience. Rather, I went through phases where I definitely wanted to go into law and could not see myself in politics which was shortly followed by phases where I definitely wanted to go into politics and could not see myself in law. I thought that throughout my internship I would get a clearer perspective on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I naively believed that if I found a true passion for politics, that I would abandon law and firmly commit to a career in politics. But the truth is I’m no closer to knowing what I want to do with my life then I was 4 months ago. And that’s not a bad thing.

My time with the Ohio House Democratic Caucus taught me that politics is nitty gritty. Most jobs in politics are low paying, high stress, with zero appreciation. Getting paid for my work would be nice, but as we inch closer to election day I am receiving some sort of compensation— a feeling that I am affecting the political scene in the state of Ohio. It might seem like an oddly specific source of pride, but as the election results pour in on election night, I will be surrounded by other interns, staff members, and current Ohio House Representatives watching the fabric of Ohio politics get stitched together before our very eyes. My internship taught me all of the unsavory elements involved with working in politics, but it also showed the unbelievable sense of achievement that comes with changing the nature of state politics. At my start date in May I would’ve told you that this was merely an internship. But now, it feels like a personal mission that will not be finished until November 6th, 2018.

Discussing targeted districts with the Executive Director and Field Director.

Tense discussions near the big map of Ohio