WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Nov. 11, 2014 — West Liberty University student body president Evan Newman knows the value of an internship. Because of that he ended up working on one of the region’s most exciting political campaigns, the West Virginia race for the 1st Senatorial District seat that pitted Sen. Rocky Fitzsimmons against Delegate Ryan Ferns.
Ferns won, collecting 13,709 votes to 12,790 for Fitzsimmons.
“Back in spring 2014 semester, West Virginia Delegate and state senate candidate, Ryan Ferns came to campus and met with the West Liberty University College Republicans club for a round table discussion. He talked about the importance of getting West Virginia back on track and how it wasn’t about red or blue, Republican or Democrat anymore. It was about getting West Virginia back to work,” Newman explained. “It was inspiring.”
Newman then worked as an intern for the West Virginia Republican Party during the summer as field organizer. His duties included voter registration, voter contact and data collection from the field.
“A pivotal part of my summer internship was aiding candidates in their grassroots efforts. That’s when I met Ryan for a second time and started knocking on doors with him. In late June, he offered me a job on his campaign. Naturally I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to work with a candidate and experienced legislator like Ryan,” said Newman.
Newman worked with the Ferns for WV State Senate Campaign throughout the remainder of the summer and after he returned to college. His last official day was today.
“I was lucky that my class schedule permitted me to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I traveled into Wheeling every week and worked on the campaign in anyway I could,” he said. A communication studies major with a minor in marketing, he expects to graduate in December 2015.
While working with Delegate Ferns, Newman learned how time consuming yet important the grassroot campaign efforts are. He did a lot of knocking on doors and other forms of voter outreach. He also researched content for Fern’s direct mail pieces and collected data for different internal campaign projects.
“I was lucky to work in the political arena. I learned how to balance my time while continuing to work at an efficient level. It was stressful at times, but I would not trade the experience for the world. I learned so much about Wheeling, the Northern Panhandle and West Virginia as a whole,” he said.
Internships during college are vital to post-commencement success, as 69 percent of companies with 100 or more employees offered full-time jobs to their interns in 2012, according to the Internships.com survey.
“In a highly competitive job market, students need to make themselves stand out. Internships are crucial because employers prefer to hire graduates who have career-related work experience,” said Bridgette Dawson, director of WLU’s Learning and Student Development Center.
Dawson and her staff offer career services to alumni and assist students in finding internships and work experience throughout the year. “A good internship strengthens our student experience and increases the value of their degree,” Dawson said.
“Ryan became more than a boss over the course of the election cycle, he became a mentor and I’m fortunate to call him a friend,” said Newman.
Newman’s post commencement plans include working on political campaigns or perhaps running for office himself, so this internship opportunity fit him to a T.
“Evan was fortunate to find an ideal internship for his career plans but even if the experience you gain does not perfectly match your major or your chosen career path, the internship will give you transferrable skills and a competitive edge. It also exposes you to professionalism and allows you to observe how skills and ideas are applied in the real world,” Dawson said.