March 5, 2015
Est. 1948
Volume 67 | Issue 7
the pace press thepacepress.org
Student spends fall interning for White House MELISSA VARGAS Arts Editor In the fall of 2014, senior Communications studies student Opal Vadhan embarked on a journey that would change her life. She had been selected to take part in the White House Internship Program. As Vadhan explains, “she had to pack up her life, and move to D.C. in one week.” The Pace Press sat down with Vadhan to get the details of how she was able to participate in one of the most competitive internship programs in the country.
Opal Vadhan at the White House in Washington, DC Instagram
The Pace Press: You were a Communications Superstar, then you left to DC to go the White House. How did that happen? Opal Vadhan: It was never a part of my plan, which I think is super important to let people know. I never thought I was qualified for politics. I didn’t think I had the tough skin, I didn’t think I was smart enough or knew enough. And it kind of just wasn’t a part of my plan. As someone who plans everything, this was a huge risk that I just went for. I used to intern at MSNBC and one of the producers who worked there was former White House Intern. And she was like “you know what, you should apply. I loved it you should apply.” I looked online and saw articles that said that everyone was from Yale, Cornell, Harvard from all these IVY league schools, or they
had someone who donated to a campaign and that’s how they got it. I didn’t think I was smart enough, and my family definitely did not have the money to donate to a campaign, but she had put the idea in my head. So I reached out to someone I had met when I was 17, while I was working as a sales associate at Lacoste. Her name is Val. She came to shop one day and she was working in the finance department for a Senator. I dressed her for an event and she was like “thank you for your help, here’s my card, stay in touch.” We emailed back and forth a few times, and I connected with her on Linkedin. Fast-forward to few years later, I was on her LinkedIn said saw she was a former White House intern. So years later, I reached back out to her through LinkedIn, I was like “Hey Val, I hope you are doing well. I want to know if you have any advice because I’m thinking of applying to The White House Internship Program. So she replied and was like “oh my gosh, you have to apply. You would be wonderful. It was one the best things I’ve done.” So I felt like it was two different people telling me to do this so I thought, ‘let me just try.’ Even it wasn’t for Val’s push, I don’t think I would’ve even applied. And it just shows the power of networking, and also social networks that 4 years later, I was able to connect with her. So I did the application, it took me forever. Definitely, the toughest application I’ve ever
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