“The summer after my junior year in high school, I interned for Sen. John McCain. I thought I would probably spend the summer taking phone calls, working the front desk, and opening constituent letters. But one week into the internship, Sen. Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham brought our whole office into one of the Senate chambers to announce that Sen. McCain had been diagnosed with glioblastoma; it would be breaking news in an hour. The rest of my time in the office was a blur. One day, I’m taking phone calls, and the next, Ivanka Trump is delivering flowers to the office. On his return to the Senate, I witnessed two really historic moments: His ‘no-vote’ on the repeal of Obamacare and his speech calling for bipartisan collaboration. That experience really laid the foundation for my interest in public affairs. And, in some ways, it motivated me to concentrate in @princetonspia. I also chose to concentrate in SPIA because of its international perspective on issues. My first year here, I went to a talk by the Russian ambassador to the U.S. I ended up taking a few classes on Russian literature and politics, and now I’m in the process of writing my Junior Paper on Russian foreign policy. By concentrating in SPIA, you have the opportunity to witness on-going global policy developments specific to your own area of study. This summer, I interned for the communications office at @princetonspia and produced a podcast on policy concerns leading up to the 2020 election (Before the Ballot; link in the bio!). It gave me the chance to get to know some of the incredible staff who keep the School running. My time here has been a place of growth/development for me. By the time I graduate, Princeton will actually be the first place I’ve lived in the longest since I was 12 years old. (It will join the list of West Texas, San Antonio, Dallas, D.C., and Florida). One takeaway from my experience here would be that growing is not always easy, but it allows for unimaginable ways to develop academically and personally.” - Henry Barrett ’22 @henrybarrett. #PolicyProfile is an @Instagram series featuring our community. Want to be featured? Comment/DM us.