Senior Neleigh Rush went to the Public Policy seminar presented by PLEN in Washinton D.C. this January.
Neleigh is currently a Political Science & History major with a minor in Non-Profit Leadership minor.
Read her story:
This January (2024) I was able to travel to D.C. to experience the Public Policy seminar
presented by PLEN. This seminar was a great experience for me. Going into this event I was very unsure
of what to expect but the moment I got there I felt that I could accomplish anything. The PLEN staff was
so welcoming and supportive which made the experience so much better. You could immediately tell
how much they cared about the program, the people, and you. It made me feel that I was going to benefit
from this experience and I definitely did.
The reason that I wanted to go to the seminar was because I was lost in what I wanted to do as a
career. Going to this seminar my main goal was to learn more about job opportunities and career paths
in the field of public policy. I was able to learn about the many opportunities that are out there from the
amazing panelists. All week we heard from amazing people that are working in public policy. Since we
had so many different perspectives I was able to learn that there isn’t just a direct path into public policy
and that there are more opportunities than you could possibly imagine. While the seminar was able to
showcase the many different opportunities there are in public policy it also gave me a better
understanding of what I wanted to do.
In addition to the amazing and accomplished people that we heard from we also got the
opportunity to practice and improve our communication and networking skills. We did this through
many different activities but the one that stood out the most to me was the diplomatic simulation. This
allowed us to use our communication skills with our peers. This was a really cool and realistic
experience that brought people together and out of their comfort zone. I truly enjoyed this simulation
and it was one of my highlights of the conference.
Something that I also enjoyed was being in D.C.. The experience of just being in this amazing
city was truly one of the best parts. For most people in public policy D.C. is the dream at least that is
what I feel most people think. This conference gave us the tools to be able to see the city and experience
just for a short period of time what D.C. life would be like. During the conference, we had the
opportunity to adventure out after the panels and day activities. This allowed for me to connect deeper
with my other conference-goers and learn more about D.C. first hand. As someone who is not from the
D.C. area I really appreciated this opportunity that the conference gave me.
Overall, this conference gave me confidence and tools to pursue a career in public policy. I was
able to learn about many diverse paths into the career field of so many different people. PLEN allowed
me to connect closer with people that are in a specific field that I am passionate about which brought me
even closer to my own career goals. PLEN also gave me the tools to be able to go out into public policy
or really any career. We learned more in depth about how to negotiate salaries, how to make your
resume stand out, how to network, and so much more. All of these skills and experiences helped me so
much and I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to experience it all because of PLEN.
