Class of 2019 First-Year Fellow: William Johnson

William Johnson ’19 is from Short Hills, New Jersey and graduated from The Pingry School.

During his First-Year Fellow summer internship, Will worked in the Government and Finance Division, specifically the Legislative and Budget Process Section, at the Congressional Research Service with alumni mentor Elizabeth Rybicki ’96.

While there, he was a witness to history in the making--so to speak. “On my second day in the office, my mentor received a request from a member of Congress about the House precedent on members standing in the well,” recalls Will. He was then tasked with going through Deschler’s Precedents to see if such action had ever even occurred in the history of the House. He also did other research for his mentor and the congressmen interested in holding the sit-in.

“Because I knew about the protest before it actually occurred and was involved with the process through every step of the way,” says Will, “I felt like I was contributing to something bigger than myself. It was amazing to realize that I was actually taking part in creating public policy.”

He continued to do research on the topic both during and after the sit-in, but knowing about such a dramatic event, before it even occurred, was an incredible experience for him.

At Dartmouth, William plans to major in History and minor in Public Policy and German with the intention of attending law school after graduation and pursuing a career in government.