Notes from the Field: Adaeze Nduaguba ’17

Adaeze Nduaguba ’17 interned at the White House during the 2016 summer term. The following is a brief recap of her experience as told in her internship report.

As a White House intern, I was assigned to the Policy Office of the Office of the First Lady, in which I was responsible for furthering the First Lady’s Let Girls Learn initiative. Let Girls Learn is the President’s and First Lady’s initiative aimed at helping adolescent girls attain a quality education that empowers them to reach their full potential.

My day-to-day responsibilities of drafting daily briefings and policy memos for the First Lady, conducting research, and assisting in the planning of Let Girls Learn national and international events were all aimed at supporting the broader initiative in an extremely fast-paced environment. The fast-paced nature of my internship taught me the importance of paying attention to detail and accuracy, as well as delivering quality work.

The work I was producing made its way to the hands of the First Lady, and I had no choice but to ensure that it was work void of any errors or inaccuracies. Very importantly, however, my internship as a whole both taught and exposed me to the importance of public service and maintaining the virtue of serving my community and others at the forefront in anything I do. Regardless of my career path going forth, such virtue is one that I have come to understand profoundly and one that will remain with me forever.

The most rewarding aspect of my internship was knowing that the work that I was doing was contributing to positive change and making social impact. Another positive aspect of my internship was the brilliant young leaders I was surrounded by every day. My fellow interns were all dedicated and passionate individuals with a fervor of changing their communities and improving the conditions of the world.

Not only has my internship given me this clarity regarding my future career path, but it has certainly also given me the confidence to approach any project or task that I am assigned in the workplace with the mentality that it will get done in top-notch quality, regardless of how long it takes or what it takes to get it done.