Amy Sents, a junior Animal Science major at Kansas State University, spent the summer as a USDA intern working in the Office of the White House Liaison. She joined about 100 other interns from around the country, as well as young people from Washington working with the D.C. Summer Youth Employment Program. Everyone had the opportunity last Friday to meet with Secretary Vilsack; Amy shares her experience this morning:
Friday morning I had the opportunity to meet Secretary Vilsack, along with approximately 100 of my counterparts located throughout USDA headquarters and surrounding offices. It was the first of what will hopefully become an annual Intern Appreciation Forum.
Introduced by the White House Liaison, John Berge, Secretary Vilsack spoke briefly to the interns and thanked us for our service to the department over the last few weeks. He spoke of how he started his career in public service by working on the campaign for then-Senator Joe Biden. He and his wife were assigned the duty of reaching out to young people. The Secretary encouraged each of us to be political activists, even as young adults, to ensure that our leaders are representative of us, their constituents. He also urged each of us to seriously consider coming back to work for USDA, in one manner or another.
Following the Secretary’s address, all of the interns had the opportunity to get their picture taken with him. It was a privilege to hear from the Secretary today, and even more of an honor to have been a part of the “Every Day, Every Way” team here this summer.
