When senior Rowan Hawthorne got to UVM, she never thought she’d take to studying politics.

But now she’s graduating with a degree in political science, and because of her experiences with the department here, she’s ready for a job within the Vermont Legislature.

“I’ll be in Vermont, fostering more connections and helping support the citizen legislature, which I am a big fan of,” she said of her upcoming role as a legislative aide.

Hawthorne’s path began after taking a class on international environmental governance taught by Professor Robert Bartlett. She was hooked and decided to apply to the Vermont Legislative Research Service. The program is run by Professor Jack Gierzynski and lets students do policy research work for legislators.

Hawthorne was hesitant at first. “I was and still am very interested in environmental politics, and this didn’t feel conducive to my goal of learning more about that particular topic,” she said.

But she decided to apply anyway, and it “ended up being one of the best decisions I have ever made.” She’s now a teaching assistant in the internship class. Among the highlights of her internship was getting to testify in front of the House Committee on Education.

Later, while looking for a summer internship, she got in touch with Richard Watts, director of the Center for Research on Vermont. There she took on more research roles, working to study police reports and more.

Watts encouraged Hawthorne to take on a leadership position, and after some hesitation, she began leading the other summer policy interns.

“I really liked it and ended up doing really well at it,” she said. That experience helped her land her teaching assistant role.

Hawthorne is also working with faculty to combine UVM’s two legislative internship programs into one.

Making connections is key, Hawthorne said. She listed a litany of professors including Gierzynski, Watts, Lisa Holmes, and Bartlett.

“There are some really amazing professors,” she said. “You can develop and foster a really good relationship with professors, and I highly encourage that.”

She says these relationships will help students professionally, “but you also have a really nice human connection with someone who is able to spend time with you, work with you, and help you become a better writer, researcher, individual student, etc.”

As a first-year, Rowan felt she needed to rush to fill her resume with internships. But she thinks students should take the time to figure out what they like and dislike. For her, it was political science.

“The political science program has been really incredible for me. I have really, really, really loved it,” she said.