实习焦点:佩顿·佩里
佩顿·佩里分享了她在国外暑期实习的经历
佩顿·佩里是伊诺拉大学的校友, PA, 谁毕业时是刑事司法专业辅修社会学. 她整个夏天都在伦敦议会实习.
当佩顿·佩里开始在伦敦议会实习时, 她不确定会发生什么, but it probably wasn’t a summer of global political upheaval or that she would help bring a Ukrainian refugee family to safety.
“我想去国外实习. I thought it was important to get outside of my small town so I could expand my outlook and experience new things.她的机会来自卢克·波拉德(Luke Pollard)办公室的一个职位, a British politician who serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Payton Perry takes a moment during work to take a photo with Big Ben in the background.
来源:提供-佩顿·佩里
"I kept thinking how incredible it was to be working in another country’s government. I was just pinching myself every time I walked out of the underground tube station to go to work.”
佩里喜欢在这座被美丽的历史建筑包围的城市工作, 她喜欢威斯敏斯特宫里的活力. “There is a central lobby that is like an intersection to the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 看到那个地方有多繁忙. There are journalists, news outlets, assistants running around like crazy, and MPs everywhere. 很激动人心. And everyone was always very intrigued by the American intern, wondering what I was doing here.”
佩里的大部分工作都是为社交媒体做的. She learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro so she could edit speeches and debates into short clips for various platforms. She wrote website posts to keep Pollard’s constituency and the people of the United Kingdom up to date with his work. She was able to do some research into both prison and gun reform and see how politics plays into law-making, 政策, 以及影响刑事司法系统的法案.
从广义上讲, she learned how to effectively work in a professional environment along with how to network and interact with managers, 同事, 和社区. Communication and writing skills came from her work with social media “All of those things will be beneficial to me in whatever career I choose. 此外, knowing that I have the capability of working in a professional environment and that I can tackle whatever task I’m handed has given me a lot of confidence in myself.”
佩里最大的一个项目出乎意料地情绪化.
通过乌克兰家园计划, residents in the UK can apply to sponsor individuals or families fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
一周几次, 佩里代表波拉德去了威斯敏斯特的内政部, 承担了一些潜在赞助商和寻求庇护者的个案工作. 她检查了申请的进度，然后, 充当中间人, reported back to a constituency team who would then report to the sponsor and applicants on where things stood or any problems with passports or visas.
Perry worked on about 10 cases throughout her internship with two that were particularly memorable.
One 19-year-old had been given guardianship of her younger sister and was trying to get them both into the UK. 当时, 然而, 没有针对未成年人的政策, 所以他们的签证不会被批准入境.
“听到这些真的非常非常难受，而且我还得回去报告. 这伤透了我的心，”佩里回忆道.
Another case was that of a mother and son who had filled out and sent their applications about a month before Perry began her internship. 检查这对搭档, Perry discovered their applications weren’t in the UK system although they were showing up on the Ukraine side. For weeks, Perry chased down information and tried to locate the imperative paperwork. 她说她开始失去希望了, and the mother and son were about to give up when the applications were located. 而儿子的申请马上就通过了, 母亲的邮件被耽搁了, 他们的未来再一次不确定.
在她实习的最后一天, Perry was informed that everything had been processed and that both would be allowed entry into the country.
Payton Perry and Luke Pollard, the British Member of Parliament for whom Perry interned.
来源:提供-佩顿·佩里
Perry says doing Pollard’s social media work and learning the ins and out of Parliament was a great experience but being able to assist others to obtain asylum was incredible.
“这是我做过的最有影响力的事情之一. 他们不知道我是谁, 他们不知道我曾为他们奋斗过, 但我对他们的生活产生了影响. 尽管只有两个人，我还是帮助他们逃到了安全的地方. 这是我实习生涯的锦上添花.”
佩里说，她从未想过自己会参与其中, 这是她永远不会忘记的事情.
而乌克兰的局势在夏季肆虐, 这也是国会内部动荡的时期.
Perry had a front row seat to the bruhaha around Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s prime minister. She recalls sitting in on one of the weekly Prime Minister Question sessions and seeing firsthand Johnson field media questions, 对她来说是一次独特的经历. 在那次事件之后不久, a no-confidence vote was triggered after a series of controversies and scandals prompted enough ministers from Johnson’s own party to turn on him.
“议会很忙。, 你可以看到人们有点恐慌, 只是在等待即将发生的消息. 那是一段相当激烈的时期，见证了一件疯狂的事情.”
佩里回到美国后不久，约翰逊就辞职了.
在英国的政治动荡中，大洋彼岸的美国.S. 最高法院正式推翻罗伊诉. Wade on June 24, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion no longer exists.
佩里说，这个问题是议会讨论的一个重要话题, and it seemed that Americans looked a bit silly to them noting that men and women from both political parties expressed dismay and shock at the decision. “每个人都在问我，这个美国女人，我怎么样了，他们能帮什么忙. 当我在那里的时候，有这样的支持真是太好了.”
Perry graduated in August and will be working at a ski resort near her hometown until April. This will give her a chance to save up money and give some thought to her next career steps. 长期计划可能包括研究生或法学院, 但更直接的计划是2023年夏天回到伦敦, 可能只需要一张单程票.
“那里绝对是我的心的一部分，所以我想回去. 我对任何事情都持开放态度，也许有一天我还能在议会工作. 我离开的时候感觉自己自信多了, 我的技能, 以及我走出舒适区的能力.”
佩里鼓励所有学生考虑在美国以外的地方实习.S. to develop their own sense of self and empowerment and to build a skill set for future employment.
“每天早上我都在想，‘什么? 我是谁?? 我在做什么??“这几乎就像灵魂出窍一样. 太不可思议了.”
To learn more about internships, contact Tom Shaffer, academic internship coordinator, at (电子邮件保护) or 814-949-5789.
