Ten BYU-Hawaii political science majors went on a weeklong trip to the nation’s capital, from March 22-29, with Dr. Troy Smith, Associate Professor in Political Science, to develop possible job and internship opportunities and gain a “real, practical experience in a political setting.”
For example, in Washington, D.C., the group met with Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Senator Daniel Akaka, a Democrat from Hawaii, and visited various sights. They also met Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin — a BYU-Hawaii alumnus who represents American Samoa, Peter Carr of the Department of Justice, Michael Malbin of the Campaign Finance Institute, and many others.
The students said Smith, who received a graduate degree in international affairs from George Washington University in Washington, knew the area well and was a great chaperone and guide for the students because he lived there. “He was also able to introduce us to a number of key people,” said James Gilbert, a senior from Salinas, California. “He was able to get us into some places that wouldn’t have been possible without him.”
Gilbert, who will graduate this June, said he went on the trip because he wanted to see what life was like in the nation’s capital. “I was very interested in seeing what Washington had to offer. I’m curious to know where to go after graduation, and I was hoping this trip could tell me what my opportunities would be in the future.”
Gilbert was also surprised by the way the congressman and organizations received them. “Everyone we visited gave us contact information, and treated us very cordially. They understood we had traveled far to be there and were glad to be with us.” Professor Smith added that interns normally conduct such visitor tours, but Senator Flake took the entire day to show BYU-Hawaii group around. “The next day in the paper,” remarked Smith, “was an article about how Flake had been doing the job of an intern.”
Ten BYUH political science students and Dr. Smith
(back row, second from right) with Senator Akaka (front center)
In addition to their meetings, the group watched a debate on the floor of the Capitol Building, looked down on the National Mall from the balcony next to the office of the Speaker of House, visited the Smithsonian and Holocaust Museums various monuments, and toured Gettysburg Civil War battlefield and cemetery, where President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
Smith said the group also enjoyed a behind-the-scenes visit to the Library of Congress, where they got to see the actual telegram announcing the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as the first known written diagram of the telephone from Alexander Graham Bell, a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt’s Diary. “It made history real,” he said.
The group also visited think tanks and similar organizations such as the General Accounting Office, the Terrorism Research Center, the U.S. Department of Justice the Campaign Finance Institution, and attended a jazz concert at the Kennedy Center.
The 10 students political science majors were James Gilbert; Westley Holden from Ellensburg, Washington; Evan Fa of Glendora, California; John Lang, Calgary, Canada; Daniel Long from Fairfield, California; Amabel Pagaduan from Cabanatuan City, Philippines; Luke Meredith, Apia, Samoa; Seong Jo from Bussan, South Korea; Robert Smith from Alta Loma, California; and Wilhelm “Kalle” Speer from Salinas, California. The students, who had to pay a fee, were selected by competition from 20 applicants, but the College of Arts and Sciences and the Academic Internships office covered most of the trip costs, Professor Smith explained.
He also said the trip was a great benefit for both him and the students. “I got to know more about them, their abilities, strengths and weaknesses, during the week in D.C. than in the many years of having them in my classes and brief visits in my office. I also hope the students got a sense of my curiosity, my interests and learned a bit of professionalism.”
— Photos courtesy of Dr. Troy Smith