Thanks to determination and a bit of serendipity, junior Amber Gavin went to work for U.S. Sen. Al Franken the day after he took the oath of office.
Eight months after a hotly contested election, Franken was sworn in on July 7 and Amber was helping set up his office the next day. "How many people get to experience a senator's office being set up?" Amber asks with a smile.
One of Amber's most interesting tasks was to create a binder of material on then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor for Franken, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. This was in an office with virtually no supplies. Amber tracked down the one three-ring binder in the office and created dividers and tabs to get the job done immediately. "I was so willing to do absolutely anything they asked me to do," she said.
That kind of quick action and willingness to help impressed the staff so much that she was asked to give up college and stay on the "Hill." But Amber's way too smart to leave LC just yet. So they had to settle for a promise that she will go back to work for Franken next summer.
Amber's path to Al Franken's office required a bit of chutzpah. She and her parents, though residents of Pennsylvania, were big Franken fans. They were drawn to his determination to carry on the tradition of his late friend and predecessor, Sen. Paul Wellstone, who believed that politics was about making people's lives better. They were so inspired by Franken, in fact, that they volunteered to help his campaign when their travels took them to Minnesota. As a result of their support, they were invited to an event at Sen. Dianne Feinstein's home in Washington, D.C.
At that event, in mid-June, Amber met Franken's chief of staff, who had just recently been chosen. She told him she would love to do an internship, e-mailed him her resume the next day, and figured it was a long shot. The Sunday before Franken's swearing-in, she received an e-mail asking her to come to work.
Amber's duties included general office work, answering constituent calls, and sitting in on two health care briefings. Health care is the issue she is most passionate about because of a history of illnesses in her own family. "I think health care is a right," she said.
An international relations major, Amber keeps a busy schedule at LC, too. She is president of Alpha Sigma Alpha, Zeta Upsilon Chapter, a member of Sigma Tau Delta, and a Summer Transition Program (STP) Leader. She plans to attend graduate school, maybe law school, after finishing at LC.
The College's beautiful campus convinced Amber to come here, though she hated to be six hours away from her family. Now, though, her sister Alyssa has arrived at LC as a freshman so family is right next door.
