Seven of these students followed in the footsteps of dozens of USD alumni by serving as interns with the South Dakota Legislature through the state’s Legislative Research Council. Their job was to assist legislators during the state’s busy legislative session.

Julia Hellwege, Ph.D., associate professor of political science and internship coordinator for the political science program, said these internships allow students to relate what they’ve learned in class to the process of lawmaking.

“Experiential learning is very important for our students to apply their classroom learning to the real-world setting,” she said. “But we also have freshman and sophomore students who participate in internships and come back to the classroom with new insights. I really enjoy how the students come back and use their experiences to enrich the classroom.”

Hellwege also noted that alumni and supporters of the Department of Political Science help students take part in these internships by giving to the Farber Fund, which was established in honor of William “Doc” Farber, a former department chair and founder of the Legislative Research Council.

“The Farber Fund affords great opportunities for students in the Department of Political Science by offering financial support for activities like internships, study abroad, conferences, and faculty-led programs to D.C. and abroad,” she said. “The fund is sustained by the continuous support of our many generous alumni and donors, and provides about $130,000 annually for student opportunities.”

Eli Mercer, who is from Onida, South Dakota, is one of the first-year political science majors who enrolled in an internship this spring. He applied for the internship because he wanted to learn how the legislative process works in South Dakota. 

“My duties this legislative session have been researching policy, helping people testify on bills and helping legislators with anything they need,” he said.

The most enlightening part of his internship is watching testimony in committee, Mercer said.

“Serving as an intern enriches my learning at USD by giving me firsthand experience in the legislature in Pierre,” he added. “It has taught me how communication and legislation happen in the Capitol.”

Another freshman legislative intern was Nate Arens, who is from Sioux Falls and is majoring in political science and international studies. Through his internship, heattended and took notes for the Senate’s Transportation, Education and Appropriations Committees and presented briefs on the bills heard in committee to the Democratic caucus.

He said he learned a lot about the practical side of making laws.

“The most exciting part has been getting to see the behind-the-scenes aspects of the legislative process, like sitting in on closed-door meetings with lobbyists or witnessing the deal-making required to get senators across the aisle to support a bill,” Arens said.

Not all interns are originally from The Rushmore State. Piper Connelly is a junior from Elkhorn, Nebraska, majoring in political science and international studies and minoring in Spanish. For her, interning with South Dakota’s legislature, which is made up of two representative bodies, offered a different experience from her home state’s legislature, which has a single chamber.

A fan of parliamentary procedure rules for conducting meetings, Connelly said the 2026 session also presented a chance to see these rules in action.

“The most exciting part was being in the thick of the action every day,” she said. “This session has seen a historic usage of the rules to alter the flow of session, and as a ‘parli pro’ nerd it is so fun to watch them navigate the rulebook and see what creative ways the legislators decide to act.”

Bailey Feistner, a senior political science and legal studies major from Woonsocket, South Dakota, interned for Rep. Karla Lems (R-16). Her internship dutiesincluded summarizing important topics for Lems to release to constituents in news articles and social media, facilitating remote testifiers in committee hearings and researching bill topics and comparing them to state statutes.

Feistner said it was revealing to see how legislators’ personal experiences affected lawmaking.

“I appreciate how everyone’s backgrounds affect their placement on the bills,” she said of the legislators. “They are each products of their own lives. The bills they produce play a role in that and you can see interesting crossovers.”

USD students historically have not only interned with the legislature; they have also held positions in other state offices. That is the case with Abbey Satter, this semester’s only college intern in the South Dakota Office of the Governor.

The sophomore political science major and English minor from Rapid City applied for the position because she wanted hands-on experience in state government and the executive branch.

“The most exciting part of my internship has been meeting people from all over the state,” Satter explained. “I do a lot of policy research, memo writing and constituent services. Currently, I'm doing quite a bit of bill tracking with the legislative session. Every day brings something new, especially with the hectic legislative session.”

Additional interns for the 2026 legislative session included: Jayden Bender, a junior legal studies major; Aida Desaulniers, a senior political science and history major; Isabelle May, a sophomore political science major; and Levi Taglioli, a junior political science major who interned with a lobbying interest group.

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