Communications
SOC Alumnus Rivera Shares Advice & Stories from Capitol Hill
Stephanie Rivera (SOC/BA, '14) recently spoke to American University's student newspaper, the Eagle, about her transition from the School of Communication to Capitol Hill. Rivera studied Foreign Language and Communication at AU and has plied the skills she learned in the program at Univision, Concerned Women for America, the National Republican Committee and Sen. Marc Rubio's office among others.
Read an excerpt from the article below, and check out the full story at www.theeagleonline.com.
By Riddhi Sarkar
...Rivera said that making full use of attending college in a city like D.C. is crucial and played a big role in building up work experience in her field of interest. She also received a lot of helpful guidance from many of her SOC professors, particularly Jane Hall, Leonard Steinhorn and Scott Talan, she said.
“The fact that I went to AU, in the nation’s capital, was critical in terms of being able to take what I was learning in school and applying it to my internships, and also learning new things through my internships,” Rivera said. “Washington D.C. is like our playground as we have so many different opportunities here.”
Rivera’s advice for current students is to know that good planning, time-management and networking skills are important for success, but so is taking out time for friends and for yourself to reflect on everything that is going on. While it was often difficult to balance interning with her full course schedule, Rivera said she feels that the work she put in has been worth it as the knowledge and experience gained has been invaluable.
“It was hard – I will tell you this – I got a lot of sleepless nights because I was interning and I was taking five classes,” Rivera said. “But, I felt like in the end, it really did pay off.”