Meet COSSA’s Summer Policy Intern: Rachel Bashe

Rachel Bashe started as COSSA’s summer policy intern in May. Before heading back to class later this month, she provided some reflections from her summer at COSSA. 

1. How did you learn about COSSA and the opportunity to serve as a policy intern for the summer? In December, I was looking for summer opportunities on Handshake, and I saw the COSSA policy intern position for the spring semester. After reading through the position details and seeing that it aligned with a lot of my interests, I reached out for more information on the summer position. I applied the following April and began my position as a policy intern for COSSA at the end of May.
2. How did the internship fit into your academic or career planning? I am a current second year student at the George Washing University, double majoring in psychology and political science. After researching this internship, I found that COSSA works to promote the advancement of social and behavioral sciences in federal policy making. For the past two years at GW, I have worked to increase my knowledge of the intersection of psychology and political science, and I strongly believe that there is a necessity for the promotion of SBS in the federal government. In the future, I intend to use the knowledge I have gained in the political and behavioral sciences to improve the lives of others by shaping policy in a way that will have a positive impact on them in the real world. The summer policy internship at COSSA was the perfect avenue to continue developing my skillset in this area and it gave me the opportunity to start making a widespread difference.
3. What stood out to you most about your internship (i.e., did you learn anything interesting/eye opening or was there a task that you enjoyed most)? Although I enjoyed all parts of my internship, there were two aspects that really stood out to me. Every morning, the first task I did was look at CQ News and see if there were any news articles that were important to document for COSSA. As simple as this sounds, looking at the news, and especially trusted news sources, is something that is often forgotten in my age group. As much as we all want to stay up to date on what is happening in the world, so many of us get caught up in academic and social responsibilities that we forget to look at and comprehend what is going on in the world around us. This simple task gave me the opportunity to use a reliable news source to understand important political events and it opened my eyes to many aspects of the political world. In addition, I really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of meetings with people who were deliberating on political events relating to the social and behavioral sciences. As a political science and psychology double major, the conversations in these meetings pertained to what I hope my future career will be. From hearing about the impact of social science research on fighting climate change to listening to professional opinions on the possible dangers or benefits of federal agency reforms, I have gained vast knowledge on policy making, advocacy, and the importance of social and behavioral science research in the federal government.
4. What would you tell future policy interns about the opportunity and/or about interning in-person in Washington, DC? To future policy interns considering interning in-person in Washington, DC, I say “do it!” I have lived in DC for almost two years now, and I have enjoyed every second of it. There is nowhere else I could imagine having such an enriching experience. The DC work environment is fast-paced, educational, and never boring. While working for COSSA as a policy intern in a hybrid fashion, my in-person days were my favorite. Taking the DC Metro to your office with every other intern in the city is all part of the fun, and having in-person interactions with coworkers is unmatched by Zoom calls. I hope to be working in-person in DC for many years to come, and I would implore anyone considering a policy internship with COSSA or any in-person internship in DC to take advantage of their opportunity to do so.
5. What’s next for you? This fall, I will begin my third year at George Washington University, and I will continue to build my base of knowledge relating to psychology and political science. In the spring, I plan to go abroad to Europe to see what insight I may be able to gain there. Next summer, I hope to again reside in DC with an internship that will give me the opportunity to continue framing my skillset and expertise on the intersection between politics and the social sciences.