From St. Mike’s to Capitol Hill: Senior leverages internship for post-grad job

Jamie Collins ’25

While managing an 11-hour time difference across the world in Southeast Asia during summer 2024, Saint Michael’s Political Science major Jamie Collins ’25, was polishing her application for an internship with the U.S. Senator Peter Welch’s office. 

Collins was spending the summer before her senior year at St. Mike’s interning in Vietnam thanks to a Freeman Foundation grant offered through the College’s Institute for Global Engagement. While abroad, Collins saw an email pop into her inbox from the College’s Henry “Bud” Boucher, Jr. ’69 Career Education Center, advertising the internship in Welch’s Vermont-based office. She decided to jump on the opportunity to work for Welch, one of two U.S. Senators representing Vermont. 

Despite the initial challenge of the time difference, Collins got the internship in Welch’s office for fall 2024. Now, on the eve of Commencement, Collins has turned that opportunity into a job for after college – this time, in Washington, D.C.

Just a few days after her graduation from St. Mike’s Collins will be moving down to the nation’s capitol  to work full time for Welch’s office. 

Committing to public service

Collins said the internship this past fall was a great opportunity to explore what it might be like to work in public service after finishing her degree in Political Science and Public Health. 

“I definitely want to be committed to public service, but I’m not really sure what avenue that’s gonna look like yet,” Collins said. “It was a good way to begin serving Vermont constituents at the very base level — continuing on in D.C. just kind of gives me the opportunity to look at certain constituents from the federal level, rather than helping with state agencies.” 

Jamie Collins ’25, second from the front, poses for a photo while in Vietnam for an eight-week internship through the Freeman Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Collins)

Collins, of Laconia, New Hampshire, says the experiences she gained while a student at St. Mike’s helped define her career path and made her eventual application for internships (and later jobs) stick out.

“I think being in Vietnam made me stand out as an applicant,” Collins cited as an example. “I think that’s really what helped me get noticed. I was out there, I was traveling.” 

Similarly, she had a number of opportunities to travel to Washington, D.C. in her four years at St. Mike’s, including on the “Destination D.C.” networking trip funded by The Institute for Global Engagement and annual trips as a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), a club on campus.

During the Destination D.C. trip, Collins said that she was able to connect with many Washington, D.C.-based St. Mike’s alumni on the political science and law tracks. 

“It’s all about who you know,” Collins said. 

But it was ultimately Professor Trish Siplon’s class on the Politics of the Global AIDS Epidemic that inspired Collins to work in public service. 

“[The class] just really opened my eyes to the different communities that are impacted by communicable disease specifically,” Collins said. “So that made me want to get involved in SGAC.”

Life after St. Mike’s

In her new role in Welch’s Washington, D.C. office, Collins will continue answering constituent calls – as she did during her internship – but this time on a federal level. Collins’ daily duties will also include recording opinions and passing them on to the Senator, as well as working on independent legislative projects.

Collins said she is excited to attend committee hearings, such as those of the Judiciary and Agriculture committees, on which Welch currently serves. 

“I’ll be sitting in on those, taking notes, and then kind of disseminating all of that information to staff to see what other members of the committee are discussing as possible policy projects to be working on within this Congress,” Collins said. 

Jamie Collins ’25, left, poses with U.S. Senator Peter Welch (second from left) in front of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier while interning for his office in Vermont. She turned that internship into a job in Washington, D.C. after graduation. (Photo courtesy of Jamie Collins)

Along with these responsibilities, Collins may also be giving a U.S. Capitol tour or two in her new position. 

The move to Washington, D.C. from Vermont marks a large shift in Collins’ life.  She says excited for the new adventure. 

“I loved my time at St Mike’s, but it was really small, and I’m ready to be in a place where there’s way more diverse populations, so many more people to connect with,” Collins said.

For students looking to pursue a similar path in public service or politics, Collins says to be persistent and determined. 

“Don’t be discouraged by initial rejections,” Collins said. “I was rejected by Senate and House offices probably four times before I landed this role.”  

As Collins gets ready to cross the stage to get her diploma, she says she is excited for what comes next.

“I’m just excited to get the ball rolling on my career,” Collins said. “I feel like the past four years have been prep, and I’m ready to start putting it into action.”