Final Reflections: A Truly Unique Summer

Share This:

Thursday, August 13, 2015

By:

Drew Roberts

This summer was an absolutely amazing experience.  So many factors all came together to make this truly unique.  I greatly appreciate everyone who made it possible.

This summer, I was able to meet both Ben and Ashley, the Mather Interns from last summer.  They both expressed the thought that the Mather Policy Internship is the best intern program in DC.  When I look back on my experience, this seems completely accurate.  This internship allowed me to connect with so many people working in science policy and really get to see how this world works.  While professionals in DC seem to be very willing to help interns find their way in a complicated and fast-paced environment, having an AIP connection and physics background allowed for another level of connections.  Individuals from American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and people on the Hill with physics backgrounds were all so helpful with understanding the transition from science to policy.

DC is an amazing city.  I know that I will be back at some point in my future.  I have never been to a place with such a high density of intelligent, incredibly hard-working, fun people.  While it is great to see the famous monuments and historic landmarks, DC really shines when you get the chance to explore the restaurants and events all around the city.  From National’s games to dinner in DuPont, DC always offered a great environment to have fun and meet amazing people.  The city itself, along with the opportunities it provides, will certainly be missed.

All of the other AIP interns did such great and interesting work.  I loved the chance to see everyone wrap up their summers with such successful presentations.  Everyone clearly did a lot of hard, meaningful work.  I’m so glad I got the chance to know and hang out with all of them.  My roommates - Pat, Max, and Elias - made sure that things were always fun and interesting at all hours of the day.  I’m glad that I got to spend the summer with all of these great people.

I’m now back in Chapel Hill, ready to finish up my final year of undergrad.  This internship allowed me to know that I would like to end up in the science policy world.  Now it just comes to a decision of which path to take to get there.  I’m thankful for all of the help and guidance from everyone at AIP, Dr. John Mather, Joe Flarida and the rest of the House Science minority staff, and everyone who met with me this summer.  I already look forward to seeing the great things that the AIP interns do next year!

The group on the last day.

Drew Roberts