Class of 2020 First-Year Fellow: April Lam '20

April Lam ‘20 grew up in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Stuyvesant High School. At Stuyvesant, April was a leader in the school’s community outreach Red Cross club and was one of the youth council leaders at the American Red Cross’ GNY chapter.

At Dartmouth, April plans to major in government with a minor in environmental studies and Chinese. She is a photographer for Humans of Dartmouth and is a part of the Asian Pacific Heritage Month planning committee.

As a First-Year Fellow, April interned at the Office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ’88. Her main duties as an intern included sorting constituent mail, answering constituent phone calls to record their comments and concerns, giving tours to constituents, and working the front office to help anyone that came to visit. Additionally, April was given projects by the environment and security staffer which consisted of researching information on the Highlands Conservation Act, familiarizing herself with different issues in his portfolio, drafting outreach letters for future legislation the Senator was going to introduce, gathering staffer contacts of different offices, and researching which senators across the aisle would most likely to cosponsor a specific bill with Senator Gillibrand.

According to April, the most significant aspect of her experience was the ability to completely immerse herself in the world of politics. “Everything I learned in the Public Policy 5 class from the players in policy making to the processes and formalities within policy making was brought to life for me. I got to see lobbyists from non-profits and businesses come into our office to speak with staffers on issues they care about, I saw the political protests from grassroots organizations rallying in front of the Capitol steps, and I watched senators take the senate floor to speak their minds on major legislation like the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The chance to live in this world and experience all of this in person was a radical experience that just solely learning from textbooks and lectures wouldn’t have given me. I see the world a bit differently now in that I know politics is in and affects all aspects of life whether it is apparent or not.”