Each year, The Patman Center selects six graduate students who show exemplary promise to become civic leaders, to receive a scholarship that supports experiential learning opportunities. This year, the Patman Center's scholarship offered $10,000 to top students at The University of Texas at Austin who are interning with an elected official during the 89th Texas Legislative Session.
The scholarship exists to provide financial support for students working in roles which are traditionally underpaid, but provide meaningful learning opportunities for the students. This year, six LBJ students were awarded the Patman Scholarship: Sarah Batson, Floridell Berry, Adriel Bustillos, Rebecca Conejo, Anthony Escobar Hernandez, and Lela Lerner.
Students spend 20-30 hours at the Capitol each week, while simultaneously taking classes. The Texas Legislative Process Internship class, taught by Patman Center faculty affiliate and former member of the Texas House of Representatives, Professor Sherri Greenberg, allows for students' internships to count for credit hours. Still, it can be a lot to manage.
"I try to really make sure I'm budgeting my time correctly, but I'm still making room for what I call 'being a person,' so getting my laundry done or keeping in touch with my friends from The LBJ School," Rebecca Conejo, a policy analyst in the Office of State Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood), said.
Days at the Capitol start early, with Patman scholars arriving before 8 a.m. to start their day. Tasks are wide ranging, and can include filing bills, taking notes on committee hearings, submitting hearing requests, or scheduling meetings with constituents and lobbyists.
"In each committee, there's a few interns, and we assign bills. So I have all the agricultural bills for that committee. Whenever one pops up, I have to enter in the bill analysis—what does it do, any questions that I envision the Senator asking about the bill or needs to ask when it hits the floor, and my recommendation of whether or not he should vote for the bill," Floridell Berry, legislative aid for State Senator Royce West (D-Dallas), said.
Meeting with constituents is another important part of the job. Conejo states that one of the best parts of her job is interacting with constituents and hearing their stories.
"We absolutely want to know what the people of House District 45 are thinking or what we can help them with," Conejo said.
Anthony Hernandez Escobar, a legislative aid in the Office of State Senator Judith Zaffrini (D-Laredo), has had the opportunity to work on bills related to his policy interests.
"I've been working on some bills related to language access in municipal courts, and I do find that to be very important work to do," Escobar said. "While I'm not getting to work on the big picture of immigration policy, I get to work on smaller scale legislation that, in a way, protects migrants and those individuals who are not fluent speakers of English."
Adriel Bustillos, a policy analyst in the Office of State Representative Mary Gonzales (D-Clint), is experiencing his second legislative session, having interned before in the 88th Legislative Session in undergrad. Bustillos is focusing on issues impacting the El Paso County, where he grew up.
"Tire dumping has always been an issue growing up and it's intriguing. This is my second session working on that bill to get it to pass," Bustillos said. "We continue to try to help those issues that need to get solved."
Seeing the legislative process firsthand has helped students develop a deeper understanding of bills and law.
"My favorite part of my job is whenever I get to look at a bill and go from knowing nothing about the bill, to feeling like I uncovered the secret of the bill. I know why it was written, I understand where it came from, and I'm able to explain it to someone else," said Sarah Batson, legislative aid in the Office of State Representative Trey Martinez-Fischer (D-San Antonio).
Patman scholars unanimously agreed that one class in particular has helped inform them the most for their internship experience: Policy Communications, taught by Dr. Amy Leff.
"In my policy communications class last semester, we talked about the hypothetical 'you run into a politican and you only have two minutes, how do you advocate for your cause?' And now that's something that I see happen firsthand every week," Lela Lerner, legislative aid in the Office of State Senator Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin), said. "I've been able to apply the best practices from class."
"It's basically memos and briefing," Berry said, describing the content covered in class. "I'm leading the Border Security committee. Whenever any of those bills hit the floor, I'll go to directly brief the Senator on the bill and what it does and what I think about it."
Other classes students mentioned as being helpful were Workforce Development Policy, Politics and Process, AI, Innovation and Technology Policy, and Introduction to Empirical Methods.
Students said that interning at the Capitol has provided insight into what they want to do in the future.
"Texas politics is a little iffy sometimes, and I think sometimes you can get disillusioned. But then, this place also gives you the sense of hope that you want," Bustillos said. "So, I can see myself doing this in the future."
"Honestly, I didn't see myself wanting to be in the Texas lege...last semester, I was applying for international stuff, because I'm studying global policy. But, that internship has changed the whole game for me," Berry said. "I'm actually going to UT Law next semester."
If you're interested in applying for an internship or even the Patman scholarship next year, Patman scholars have some words of wisdom!
"When it comes to finding that internship, I would recommend finding somewhere where you are going to learn," Conejo said. "The best experiences thus far in my life have been the ones that challenged me."
"If you have any interest in working for someone who's an elected official, I think the Patman Scholarship is the kind of the best way to make that possible," Batson said.
"My advice would be to just do it," Lerner said. "There is really no substitute for the in-session inside the Capitol. Getting that perspective of a legislator's office is so valuable."
Patman Scholar applications are open on a rolling basis! Find more details on our website.