Class of 2019 First-Year Fellow: Tara Burchmore

Tara Burchmore is a Government major and Public Policy minor from Sun Valley, Idaho. At Dartmouth, Tara is a D-LAB Facilitator, a ski instructor, and races for the Alpine Club Ski Team. She has been a trip leader, works as a teaching assistant at Thayer School of Engineering, and is a member of Alpha Phi. 

For her First-Year Fellowship, Tara was placed in the Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand '88 (D-NY) where she worked as the Defense Intern, focusing on policies surrounding Senator's position on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Throughout the summer, Tara took meetings with constituents and lobbying interests, attended committee hearings and briefings to compose summarizing memorandums, and prepared background memos to ready the Senator for meetings.

One memorable moment was when she was asked to provide real-time updates of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing via email, which were being read to the Senator as she made her way from her office in the Senate to the hearing.

“The most significant thing I learned throughout my fellowship was that hard work truly does pay off,” says Tara. She began her internship working in the mailroom, doing typical intern tasks such as answering phones and sorting mail. Then, a little more than a week into her internship, Tara was assigned a letter to write for a staffer about the Senator's position on a specific Senate bill. After she turned it in, the Legislative Correspondent on defense issues asked to have her assigned to the Defense office for the rest of the summer.

“Working in the Defense Office really enriched my internship experience,” says Tara. “On a less tangible level, I think the professional skills I learned through this fellowship will continue to benefit me in future internships and while at Dartmouth, including knowing how to balance different projects, being prepared to deliver to deadlines, and being easygoing and professional when in the office.”