Having an internship in the ceramics industry allowed me to see firsthand the importance, as well as the complexity, of the relationship between technology and policy—and it showed me that I wanted to learn more. This past summer, I had the opportunity to do just that as an intern with the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in Washington, D.C. I have been interested in politics for much of my life, so an internship in the nation’s capital was a dream come true.

The University of Virginia’s Policy Internship Program of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which matches engineering students with policy internships, gave me the resources and encouragement to pursue this longtime goal by matching me with the House Science Committee. The committee has jurisdiction over nondefense federal scientific R&D, which includes agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Science Foundation (NSF).