This Student Got to Shadow a Congressional Candidate For the Day

As the #1 marketplace for college students to find jobs, WayUp loves pairing career-hungry students with amazing opportunities. Through our Shadow for a Day Campaign, students applied to win 1-on-1 time with Kathleen Matthews, a congressional candidate for Maryland’s 8th District. The lucky student who won, Taylor Mellaci from George Washington University, wrote a post about her experience. Check it out!

When I came to Washington, D.C. two years ago I knew I wanted to become immersed in politics and international affairs– I just had to figure out how. Attending a city school like George Washington University, I’m constantly surrounded by driven students. This quickly taught me that access to internships and practical experience was essential. With so many great opportunities in DC, I know I would be losing out if I didn’t take advantage of the political landscape.

I heard about WayUp a few months ago from my roommate, who had used the site to get a job close to campus. For the past year, I had navigated the job and internship field a bit, but with internships becoming increasingly competitive, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have WayUp as an additional resource.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from WayUp detailing an opportunity to shadow a congressional candidate for Maryland’s 8th District, Kathleen Matthews. Throughout my past internships, including my current one in the US House of Representatives, my mentors had always explained that working on a campaign was an experience that every young person interested in politics should pursue. I didn’t know much about Matthews’ particular campaign, or the district for that matter, but it seemed like a unique opportunity to have one-on-one access with a politician, so I decided to apply.

After researching what I could the campaign and the race in general, I was super excited about the opportunity to shadow a female congressional candidate whose platform advocated for women’s issues. I really enjoyed being able to understand, first-hand, how passionate Kathleen Matthews is about forming relationships with her constituents and serving their specific concerns. Plus, I got to shadow her campaign trail on a particularly exciting day.

The schedule consisted mainly of community events: attending a Baptist church service in the morning, volunteering at a Jewish Community Center’s day of service, then going to a meet and greet at a supporter’s house. However, I was most interested in learning about the logistics of running a congressional campaign, especially in a district with nine other democratic candidates in the primary. I got a good inside look at what this entails, and I was able to gain insight from Matthews’ staff about how the campaign managed press, events, and fundraising.

Shadowing a congressional campaign for the day definitely exposed me to a side of politics that I hadn’t yet experienced, but had always considered getting involved with. As I had hoped, this opportunity only confirmed my interest in politics from my past and upcoming internships in democratic legislative politics.

My main takeaways from the day? Good campaigns are founded on the candidate’s passion for the district they’re representing. Campaigns can seem like marathons, but they’re also a chance for candidates to get to the emotional root of a community, and engender real change. This aspect in particular has made me excited about the road ahead in my own pursuit of a career in politics!