Danny O'Connor

Honors Experience: Internship with Connie Pillich

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

      For my first learning experience as a member of the University Honors Program here at the University of Cincinnati, I created a self-design experience out of my participation in the campaign efforts of state representative Connie Pillich. What started out as something I thought of as a way for me to get my feet wet in my field of study turned out to be an incredible life-changing experience that has left me with valuable real-world knowledge, and a network of top-notch connections.

 

     While I am not entirely finished with the experience, it is simple to describe. On Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, I drive over to Blue Ash and work at the campaign office of state representative Connie Pillich, who is a candidate for Ohio treasurer. In the beginning, I didn’t really know what to expect, but on my first day, I was met by a hardworking dedicated staff of individuals that I can now easily consider friends as well as coworkers. I have various tasks that I undertake each day at the office, and all of them are geared towards attaining financial assets for Connie’s campaign efforts. One of the things I found myself doing in the beginning was “donor research” which consists of researching past campaign donors, finding some basic contact and work information for them, finding their campaign donor history, and uploading that into our main database so that we know to reach out to them in the future to either invite them to events or ask for donations. Other tasks of mine include drafting memos of major news stories around Ohio in places where Connie has to travel to, and researching articles that pop up throughout the week that Connie has appeared in. Other smaller projects will often times pop-up, and I will complete them as either Connie, or my other supervisers ask me. I have a fellow intern that works alongside me at the office, who is a freshman at Xavier, and together we tackle a vast array of work in a day at the office.

 

     While I found this experience to be interesting and engaging, the paradigm shift in my dedication to it occurred on Saturday, March 15th, when I got the opportunity to attend the Ohio Democrat Party Legacy dinner. At the event, I got to greet various individuals who came to see Connie and the other Democratic candidates on the statewide ballot for the upcoming fall 2014 elections, and also got to meet several prominent politicians in Ohio. Among those I met were senator Sherrod Brown, governor candidate Ed Fitzgerald, state representative Nina Turner, candidate for attorney general David Pepper, and the Ohio Democrat Party chairman Chris Redfern. Not only meeting these incredible people, but also seeing them speak was an unbelievable and life-changing experience for me as I pursue study in the world of political science. I left the event not only feeling pride in what I was helping to accomplish with Connie, but also with an extremely valuable new network of connections with prominent Ohio politicians.

 

     As I wrap up my time at Connie’s office, I have an entirely new perspective on the framework of elections, and the major differences between state and federal politics. The experience has also opened my eyes to many future opportunities in the world of politics that I never knew I had before.

 

 

 

Attached is a reflection of my expereience. Through this, I hope to disseminate my work and share with others not only my experience, but the vast array of knowledge I gained in my field of study during the process.