Nicole Mattea is a DePaul junior double-majoring in Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse and Political Science and minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies. In WQ ’19, Nicole is completing WRD 398, Internship, with Professor Vandenberg, interning in the Chicago office of U.S. Senator Richard Durbin.
What is a typical day “on the job” for you?
Each intern is assigned a differing team, so I am learning and starting to participate in some of the tasks that I will be responsible for. Currently, I have been assigned to the scheduling team, which means “on the job” for me involves working with Senator Durbin’s schedule. I am processing and inputting the invitations he receives as well as learning to craft some of the various letters the office sends out on behalf of Senator Durbin. I have begun working as well on an assignment where I am taking a bill that has recently been introduced to the Senate and summarizing its contents, as well as discussing its importance and its political/historical context.
Regardless of team, a typical day on the job for the interns in the office involves working in administration—answering the office’s phones and conversing with constituents from all over the state. I take messages intended for Senator Durbin and connect constituents to the appropriate resources for information on immigration, social security, etc. I also process the faxes the office receives.
Tell us about your career plans after graduating from DePaul.
I’m not quite sure of my career plans after graduating from DePaul as I have a lot of varied interests. I know I want to continue in higher education, but have not decided if I want to pursue law school or graduate school. Right now I want to graduate and spend some time gaining experience in a career before I go back to school, but have not decided my exact path yet.
I am very passionate about being involved in and pursuing a career in politics, so I am working on my career in that regard by interning for Senator Durbin. I hope as I continue with this internship that I get a greater and more clear idea of not only what I enjoy, but how I can use my existing skillset in a career after graduation.
Regardless of my future, I know I want to be in a field that works to benefit and be an advocate for girls and women.
Why and how does your education in the WRD program influence or fit in your career goals?
WRD fits in my career goals in the sense that I want my career to be heavily writing-based. I enjoy putting together my thoughts and feelings through writing and feel that it is how I best express myself. This program has been able to help me refine, improve, and just overall develop my writing to a level I never thought I could achieve.
The WRD program has influenced my career goals as I am more aware now than ever of the avenues someone with a writing degree can pursue. Writing is involved in nearly every career path so it is a valued skill that I hope to use in an avenue I choose. I am now interested in a career more heavily based in communication that tailors to a specific audience. I enjoy working with and developing rhetoric and learning how you can use writing, communication, and research to affect the way you present yourself and your work as well as affect the audience’s perception of that work.
What are the most helpful skills from WRD courses that you see being made useful once you graduate?
I think the ability to understand and write in a variety of different genres as well as process information analytically. Writing is constantly changing and shifting in and out of genres and (depending on the workplace) can exist in a genre all its own. However, being familiar with writing genres and the way they work, as well as understanding the context for why they are written the way they are, will only be useful in the future when I am using writing in the workplace.
The WRD major has helped me as well learn to develop analytic skills. This DePaul program places an emphasis on learning how to form and develop your own opinion. Everything can be analyzed and evaluated and learning how to do so can only be beneficial in developing your own thoughts, opinions, and sense of self when it comes to what you believe and value. This is a skill I have learned and developed in the WRD major that will not only be beneficial in a career, but beneficial in life.