and online. We would form it into a press package for
him. That was a daily thing that we did,” Mathews said.
Hoeven’s office had five interns in the time that
Mathews was there and they took turns, but it wasn’t all
fun.
“I had to go home and study. I had to figure it out;
learn all of the things that he’s involved in and all of the
upcoming bills. That was a big thing, being able to tell
the constituents what the senator was doing and how
he could help them,” he admitted. He also gave capitol
tours to people that came to meet with the senator, or just
people from North Dakota who came to Washington to
visit.
“You could give our office a call if you were visiting
or meeting with the senator. The intern tours took a maxi-
mum of 15 people at a time and you get to show them
more areas than the official tour. I thought I kind of knew
the inside of the capitol and the Russell building. I did not.
Brushing up on the history of the building was amazing.
Being able to show people was a good feeling,” he said.
The senator’s staff made sure that the interns had an
opportunity to see government up close.
“We got to go watch things go down all the time, like
the [Mark] Zuckerberg testimony. It was different live than
seeing it on TV. We did all kinds of tasks for the staff.
Walking down in the underground corridors, I would
always see Ted Cruz. I bumped into Paul Ryan and his
security staff one day. Seeing things like that, it was fun,
it was exciting,” Mathews said. “You’re busy, but the one
thing about Hoeven’s office, they did a wonderful job
of not having us stand around and do shredding all day.
They told us to go out and meet other offices, go to brief-
ings.”
A congressional intern is usually an unpaid position,
but according to Mathews, seven senators give their staff-
ers some kind of compensation to help pay the bills.
Hoeven is one of those seven. Mathews would definitely
recommend it to someone who is interested in govern-
ment or history. “It’s an experience of a lifetime for sure,”
he said.
To apply to be a congressional intern, visit the website
of one of your state’s representatives or senators. They can
be found at senate.gov or house.gov. Each of them has an
application and an intern coordinator. Fill out the online
application, and Mathews said he then followed up with
the coordinator after sending them his resume. “Receiving
the call was a shocker. It was amazing,” he said.
After spending a semester in Washington, Joseph isn’t
sure what’s next for him.
“Law is definitely in the picture,” he said. He was even
lucky enough to see the cherry blossoms while he was
there. “They bloomed close to when I was leaving. It is
such a huge city, but somehow they still have that beauti-
ful scenery all around.”
Exclusive Hercules Tire Dealer In Parker County
Automoti v e W o r k
Tires, Whe e l s & A c c e sso r ie s
80
S us pen si o n Li f t s
O il C han ge s
Brak es an d Mo r e
1811 Ft. Worth Highway • Weatherford, Tx • 817.550.6790
MON-FRI: 7am-5pm | Saturday: 8am-2pm | ERNIESTIRESANDAUTO.COM