by Sam Hodges
This summer, I was fortunate enough to work as an Intern on
Capitol Hill in the Office of Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas District 1.
District one covers the Tyler/Longview/Lufkin areas. As I prepared to move to
Washington and begin work, I read through the Intern Manual to prepare for the
job. As an intern, you are essentially a filter for incoming calls and emails
to the Congressman. As a call comes in, I would answer, listen to the
constituent (person living in Texas District 1), answer any questions he or she
had about statements made by the Congressman or upcoming legislation, and log
their comments into the data management system by topic, opinion, and urgency.
In addition to this, I ran errands for the office, delivered documents to the
Congressman he needed on the House floor from the office, transcribed committee
meetings and hearings, made sure the refrigerator was stocked with drinks,
sorted incoming mail by topic, and directed calls to the appropriate staff
member in the office.
Another
job I had, which is unique to Congressman Gohmert’s office, was to assist him
on night tours of the Capitol Building, which he usually leads once a week
while the House of Representatives is in session. These tours are very
informative and entertaining because Mr. Gohmert is a history buff, with a
History Degree from Texas A&M University, and they are very through. We led
groups through almost every room in the Capitol, including going onto both the
House and Senate floor where votes are cast and issues are debated, the old
Supreme Court chambers, the old Senate Chambers, Statuary Hall (the old House
Chamber, the rotunda, the Speaker’s balcony, and the Congressional Prayer room.
These tours last around 3 hours, but are intriguing.
Working
for Congressman Gohmert was an extremely enlightening experience. Being on the
Hill and witnessing how much effort goes into passing one piece of legislation,
the hectic schedules of members of Congress, and how this all balances out was
eye-opening. I was very lucky to work in an office that I could interact with
the Congressman too. Other interns living in the townhouse I stayed in at Eastern
Market only met their Congressman once or twice over the course of the summer
and were never given actual things to do other than answer the phone. Mr.
Gohmert made a point to talk to the interns, and normally took us to lunch once
a week when he was in the office.
Being
selected to Intern, in any capacity be it on the Hill, at a research lab, in a
ranch breeding facility, or with an investment bank, requires ambition and
self-motivation. You must have a strong desire to succeed and put your best foot
forward. Where did I acquire these skills that helped me be successful on the
job? A large portion of it was from my family and community growing up. Their
unwavering support heavily equipped me with motivation. Another huge
contributor was the professionalism and practical skills I developed in the
Simbrah/Simmental Junior Program. The verbal communication skills I learned
from participating in Sales Talk and Public Speaking at TJSSA State Futurity,
American Junior Simbrah Roundup, and Cow Camp at Smith Genetics gave me an edge
over colleagues and help you stand out because you are able to take a piece of
information, process it in your mind, then clearly communicate its meaning to
another person. This helps tremendously when explaining issues to constituents
on the phone, visitors in the office, or in meetings with staffers and the
Congressman. Yes, from time to time the Congressman would call us into his
office and have us explain what the callers were talking about and why they
held the opinions they expressed to us. As you might imagine, not all callers
were friendly supporters or inquisitive constituents. Some individuals simply
wanted to call in and pick a fight because their views did not match the
Congressman on ways he voted on legislation. Through participation in
Showmanship, we learn how to be good sports and keep our calm in the show ring
while maintaining focus. This “practice” helped me remain civil and calm
although callers on the other end may have been yelling or using
profanity. And finally, the
overall broad knowledge we learn about agriculture and the specifics we learn
about breeding and cattle management help too. Not everyone knows that there
are different breeds of cattle. Not everyone knows that embryo transplants and
artificial insemination are common practices in our industry. This base
knowledge we are equipped with enables us to engage in conversations about
legislation or issues arising in agriculture (House Resolution 6233 The
Agriculture Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 addressing aid to farmers and
ranchers in these harsh drought conditions) and provide valuable input. My
point is simple. The programs provided as contests to Juniors in our breed have
real-world applicability. Will your Junior know how to A.I. a cow because they
participated in one of these events? No. Will studying and preparing for the
quizzes help them gain a better understanding of our industries practices? Yes.
Will participating in Showmanship, Sales Talk, and Public Speaking develop
their communication skills and self-discipline? Yes. Although it may seem silly
to some Juniors to compete in these contests and they may be afraid of
answering a question wrong or saying the wrong thing, I strongly urge you to
encourage them to participate. The only way for them to improve is to practice,
study, and eventually put themselves to the test by getting out there and doing
it!
As
you can see, there are both direct and indirect benefits to our Junior program.
Having run the Simbrah/Simmental Junior gauntlet, and interacted with countless
friends showing different breeds of cattle, I can honestly say that we got it
right. Opportunities afforded to Simbrah/Simmental kids are endless compared to
other Junior programs and I am extremely thankful to everyone who helped make
my junior experience as informative and enjoyable as it was both inside and
outside of the show ring.
Sam Hodges is a current senior Political Science
Major/History Minor at Texas A&M University, and is a member of the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets where he serves as Commander of the Cadet
Leadership Council.
