Flying down I-495 at 90 mph in a police interceptor as part of an internship mandated ride-along, Jack Williams knew he would have an exciting experience interning at the Montgomery County Council in Rockville, MD. Williams, a second-year student at the Institute of Applied Agriculture, plans a career in Environmental Science and Policy. During his tenure at the County Council, Williams was tasked with attending meetings, hearings, and press conferences; writing memos; responding to constituents; and most notably, working on 5G accessibility in the county.
Williams worked most closely with the Montgomery County Council’s Chief of Staff, who assigned him a myriad of tasks throughout the internship, including boosting the County Council’s social media presence by taking photos at events attended by council members. Williams even had the pleasure of attending meetings closed to the public, which he found to be a treat.
“I liked the idea of being included in discussions and possessing knowledge that the public was not yet aware of,” said Williams.
Yet, tasks assigned to Williams were not always for the purpose of benefitting the County Council; many were actually designed to provide Williams with a learning experience, for instance going on a police ride-along in Gaithersburg, MD and visiting a waste recycling plant to learn about how the County manages its waste in an environmentally sensitive manner.
When asked what he found most surprising about his internship, Williams touched on how every minute detail of daily life had a long list of expansive legislation behind it. He also went on to discuss how interesting it was to witness the personality of the council members, something you can never experience through watching recordings of them online. Williams did not particularly enjoy the day-to-day drudgery the Council offered him but sees this internship as a springboard for post-graduate opportunities in law or government.
Despite not being particularly enamored with the life as a county council member, the internship did teach Williams some important skills such as emailing constituents in a formal context and developing proficiency with Internet Quorum (an email service used by the Montgomery County Council). Most importantly, this internship helped Williams determine that his post-graduate career will be centered around government or law.
“Working at the Montgomery County Council has given me a useful glimpse into the inner workings of local government,” said Williams.
