Morgan Robertson
As another measure of celebration for Sam Houston’s Birthday, SHSU Staff and Alumni ventured to the Capitol to deliver a very meaningful gift to all legislative members. The David Adickes statue on Southbound I-45 depicts our great namesake with his signature cane. So, to add a piece of SHSU in the Texas Capitol, legislators were gifted with General Houston canes!
After all of the canes had been distributed, the Deans and interns made their way down Congress Avenue and up to the 10th floor to meet former LEAP Ambassador, Christina Gonzalez, now VP of Governmental Affairs for AECT . Thanks to Professor Yawn’s coordinating, and Christina’s generosity, SHAIP interns had the pleasure of having lunch with Dean Roper, Dean Li, and Dean Lyons!
We were greeted with great hospitality, and delicious food! We filled our plates with lunch from Alonti. However, the best part of our afternoon was, of course, the conversation!
I. Cuero, A. Sheffield, J. Cuevas, Y. Mendoza, B. Demyers, & M. Robertson
We all were given the challenge to tell the Deans more about ourselves and share what the past two months of our semester looked like. Then, the lunch turned even more into a roundtable. Christina shared some of her wisdom about working at the state level. She reminisced on her time as an intern and described how it was getting her very first bill passed.
The Deans asked us how SHSU better prepared us to work in Austin and what new skills we would be taking back to SHSU from our experience in Austin.
Regarding how SHSU prepared us, we unanimously agreed that the Career Success Center and its staff are great resources. Yvette and Jessica noted that the Reba Bock Career Closest has helped as well.
As our youngest Intern, Breanna said she is excited to see how her experiences in the working world translate to her next few years at Sam: “There is only so much knowledge that you can gain in a classroom setting. My time at TAC, Texas Association of Counties, has taught me how the state interacts with urban and rural counties alike.”
Christina’s generosity extended to allowing us to use AECT’s beautiful view down Congress from their balcony to snap some photos! After some strategic coordination. We were able to get some great photos with our Deans.
On behalf of the LEAP Center and the SHAIP Interns, thank you to Christina for hosting a great lunch with even better company and to the Deans for sharing your knowledge and supporting us in Austin!
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 