April Allen | Arts & Life Co-Editor
Through the Washington Center located in Washington, D.C., Elizabeth Heffernan, a junior political science and English double major, is interning at Marzulla Law this semester. Along with her internship, she takes a class and attends lectures about politics.
Marzulla Law litigates money damage claims.
“Marzulla deals with property violations such as trespassing or seizing property without compensation. Basically Marzulla Law is just trying to get the government to follow the Constitution,” Heffernan said.
Heffernan explained that the attorneys are really good at exposing interns to different parts of the law, and she is very excited about being able to go hear oral arguments, but does express that as with any internship, there are days that become tedious.
Lisa Best, Associate Professor of Political Science, believes Heffernan was ready for this experience.
“Elizabeth is a phenomenal student who, at every turn, has taken advantage of the opportunities presented to her at BVU to develop her legal research, analysis and writing skills,” said Best. “Last semester, she completed a trial brief that any young lawyer would have been proud to submit. She is ready for this, and as a result of her hard work, she has been offered this opportunity to use and develop her skills among some of the top lawyers in the country. For Elizabeth, the sky is the limit.”
The Washington Center Program is a well-rounded experience. The internship is centerpiece, but many other pieces allow the participants to grow personally. Culturally, Washington, D.C. is very different from Iowa. A main reason Heffernan went is because she had never traveled this far away from home for a long period of time, and it would be a good experience.
“The conversations you overhear are super in intelligent. People are always talking about politics or something happening in D.C. And then everyone is all dressed up professionally and walking really fast because they’re busy,” Heffernan said.
“I know a lot of people in my classes are more set on their career goals. They know what they want and have a set plan of how to get there and know the end goal. Being from Iowa, we will experience things and figure it out. Maybe I will go to law school. I’m just going to figure it out as I go. The mindset is different here though,” Heffernan said.
Brad Best, Associate Professor of Political Science, notes that participants of the program return to campus with two things.
“First, they learn that they are capable of succeeding anywhere – that a BVU education prepares students to do deeply meaningful, important work. Second, students return with an enhanced sense of purpose. They always seem to have acquired a clearer sense of where they’d like to be professionally in five or ten years. It’s thrilling to see that kind of transformation,” he said.
Heffernan feels that another benefit is that she is truly getting to experience the city, even tourist spots, in ways tourists often don’t in a two or three-day visit.
“Going to the monuments at night is really cool. Especially Lincoln, Washington, and Vietnam memorial at night being up-close and quiet,” she said. “It was just really amazing to be there in that atmosphere without tons of tourists being in the same place.”
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Heffernan
