In any industry, the difference between the intern who wants to take on more, to learn more, to expand their horizon and the one that doesn’t can be boiled down to one fundamentally necessary trait: curiosity.
Still, there’s a funny thing about curiosity when you’re an intern. You want to ask questions, but you also don’t want anyone to think you don’t know enough to be there in the first place.
That dichotomy became especially apparent during my time interning on the Hill.
Walking into a Congressional office as an intern can be a little overwhelming. Suddenly, you’re surrounded by people who seem to know everything about everything: legislation, policy, constituents, committees, the congressional calendar, and approximately 700 acronyms you have never heard before. You quickly realize that there is a lot you don’t know.
And sometimes, the instinct is to hide that.
You don’t want to ask the question that everyone else seems to know the answer to; you don’t want to admit you missed something.
But the more time I spent on the Hill, the more I realized that not knowing something isn’t necessarily a disadvantage: pretending you know something when you don’t is.
And the idea isn’t novel: enter the old adage parents have been repeating ad infinitum for generations, “closed mouths don’t get fed.” I’d argue that closed mouths don’t get internships, either. Or mentors. Or explanations. Or opportunities to learn something you didn’t know you needed to learn.
So, asking questions became one of the most valuable parts of my experience. Sometimes, the question was small. Other times, it opened up an entirely new conversation. Either way, every answer gave me a little more context for the work happening around me
So, if there’s one thing I’d encourage every intern to bring with them, it’s curiosity. Ask the question. Start the conversation. Stick your nose into something new—just maybe not where it doesn’t belong.
After all, curiosity may have gotten the cat killed, but for an intern, I promise it won’t: it can even get you fed.
-Sophie Garlick, Communications Specialist