Five UMass Lowell students interned at the national conventions and shared their experiences.

“Surreal”, “breathtaking”, “once-in-a-lifetime”. These were just a few phrases that UMass Lowell students described their experiences interning at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions through The Washington Center. UMass Lowell’s tagline, “Learning with a purpose” was certainly made evident as the five students explained their hard work at the two political conventions to a room full of students and professors. A one-hour presentation was just barely enough time for these students to describe such an action packed two weeks of stimulating, educational, and rewarding work.

The forum was held in O’Leary Library and was open to all students who were interested to hear about this academic program afforded to the five students by Dean Luis Falcon and members of the college of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences office. The students each individually shared a PowerPoint presentation with the audience that outlined their unique internship experience. They explained the different aspects of the program, their particular field work, exciting moments, and much more.

First to present was junior Tyler Farley. Farley was the only one of the five students who represented UMass Lowell at the Republican National Convention. During the academic week before the convention began, Farley recollected a number of exciting speakers he heard including the Chicago chief of police and a speaker from the secret service. He also attended small group sessions and explored the state of Ohio. During the convention Farley acted as a runner and escorted guests inside the convention hall. Due to his exceptional work, he was assigned to the CNN upper deck of the Quicken Loans Arena. Farley conducted interviews and  met UMass Lowell graduate and Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Farley reflected upon the magnificence of his experience describing it as “witnessing history… seeing all these big events and important people around you makes you think you’re the big time,” Farley said.

Next to present was senior Adeja Crearer. Crearer shared a video that she created herself containing interviews with various interns at the Democratic National Convention. She then went on to describe her first week of small group sessions and leadership training and her second week of field work where she acted as a member of the media. She interned with AFP TV News. Crearer recalls the thrill of standing all alone in a pack of furious Bernie Sanders supporters. Seizing the moment, the future reporter began taking pictures and getting interviews with individual protestors. “In that moment, I realized that this was what I wanted to do,” she said.

The second DNC attendee was recent UMass Lowell graduate Marcus Peterson. Peterson  explained that he attended the convention as a final effort to obtain the credits he needed to graduate, as it satisfied his practicum requirement. Peterson also spoke of the group discussions he attended which he said was his favorite part of the program. He worked with a group called Food and Water Watch and helped lead a march to protest fracking. Additionally, Peterson  attended a small business council meeting where he met Jerry of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

Third to present was senior Sarah Chapman. Chapman recalls attending an event called “Political Fest” that the city of Philadelphia hosted during the DNC. They went to the Constitution Center and got to dress up as supreme court justices. Similar to the previous students, Chapman also mentions protests including a clean energy march. Due to her great interest in state politics, Sarah was placed with the New Hampshire delegation. The convention held special caucuses based on particular interest groups like LGBTQ and minority issues. Chapman attended the women’s caucus where she got to see U.S. Senator, Jeanne Shaheen and meet U.S. Congresswoman, Anne Kuster.

The Final presentation was by sophomore, David Todisco. Todisco passionately reminisces on the highlights of his experience. “It was really emotional going into the convention” said Todisco. During the convention, Todisco interned for NBC. He mentions how he was the only intern to personally organize his own field work with The Washington Center. Todisco went on to explain how he worked with “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” and had the pleasure of driving television journalist, Andrea Mitchell, in a golf cart every day. He also describes how excited he was to see Elizabeth Warren, Michelle Obama, and Corey Booker deliver their speeches. Todisco does not undermine the value of his experience telling students who are considering such programs to “definitely go for it. Don’t ever not pursue a dream because you don’t have the money. Look into the resources UMass Lowell has.”

At the conclusion of the forum, Dr. Francis Talty thanked the interns for their hard work and claimed “they made UMass Lowell well known around both conventions and I think we should be proud of them.” The Washington Center Program offers year-round internships and academic seminars to students and recent college graduates. Talty claims that students of all majors (typically those who have completed their first semester of Sophomore year) would benefit from The Washington Center programs. Students interested in such programs should contact Talty.