Senior Luke Wong stands in front of Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Courtesy | Luke Wong
During the summer, some students traded the rural charm of Hillsdale for the promise of street food, the metro, and big-city internships — here are three of their stories.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Senior Luke Wong spent the summer as a policy intern in the White House. Wong said he first became interested in telecommunications policy through the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program in the fall of 2024, where he interned at the Federal Communications Commission. Encouraged by his FCC supervisor, he applied for the Office of Science and Technology Policy internship.
Every day at OSTP provided new experiences, Wong said, including taking notes on key meetings, conducting in-depth policy research, and becoming an overnight expert on subjects ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum computing. Alongside the rest of OSTP, he often worked on implementing executive orders related to AI, ensuring the success of the president’s agenda.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” Wong said. “OSTP is not a very large team. They are all hands on deck for everything.”
Wong said even if he didn’t have experience in the area of policy he was working in, adopting an attitude of wanting to help created room for mentorship.
“You always want to say yes to as many opportunities as you can, especially as an intern, because you never know who you’re going to meet or what you’re going to get to work on,” Wong said.
Wong said his Hillsdale education proved invaluable.
“Hillsdale kids are held to an extremely high standard of writing,” Wong said. “I really saw how much that was helpful, in terms of Hillsdale training us, to be clear at what you’re saying.”
Although he missed Hillsdale, Wong said he would happily return to Washington after graduation, ideally in public service or telecom policy.
For students interested in D.C., Wong advises not to underestimate the importance of the Hillsdale connections.
“When you get down to D.C., when you come across someone from Hillsdale, regardless of who you are on campus, you’re automatically friends,” Wong said. “I think that is one of the reasons Hillsdale kids do so well in D.C., because we look after each other.”
Conservative Partnership Institute and Congress
Sophomore Leon Rapoport also spent his summer in Washington, D.C., interning at the Conservative Partnership Institute and in a congressional office. Rapoport’s responsibilities included legislative research and administrative tasks. Despite a sharp learning curve, he eventually settled in to the rest of the summer.
Rapoport said he was surprised how much the political life in D.C. blends into everything. More than anything, he emphasized the value of authenticity.
“I was genuinely interested in what they had to offer, and that built a lot more connections than more transactional interactions,” Rapoport said.
Some of his favorite memories included watching Congress debate the “Big Beautiful Bill,” exploring the Capitol with his intern badge, and touring the West Wing.
Though Rapoport said he loved the work at CPI, he realized congressional staffing was not the right fit for him. Still, the experience deepened his interest in politics and left him open to future opportunities in D.C.
“I definitely am much more interested in politics now that I’ve been to D.C., so I feel like one way or another, I’ll return to D.C.,” Rapoport said.
The Wall Street Journal
Senior Thomas McKenna interned at The Wall Street Journal through the Bartley Fellowship, a competitive program named after former opinion editor Robert L. Bartley. McKenna, now editor in chief of The Collegian, said he has been a dedicated reader of the Journal since his parents gifted him a subscription at 15.
With help from John J. Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program, McKenna applied last fall and landed the position. As an intern, he edited op-eds and columns, fact-checked stories, and occasionally pitched and wrote his own pieces.
“I expected a high level of editing and fact-checking from the Journal,” McKenna said. “Not every publication has a process as rigorous as theirs.”
He was also surprised by the number of young people on staff — though many editors are seasoned veterans, there’s a strong cohort of early-career writers.
One highlight was reporting on New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. McKenna traveled to Queens, interviewed constituents, and practiced on-the-ground reporting. He also attended editorial meetings with some of his favorite writers, getting to see how the newspaper crafts its voice.
McKenna said the best piece of advice he received from his immediate boss was that an article should “start fast and not slow down.” He practiced writing and editing with the philosophy that the reader should stay engaged throughout the article.
McKenna said he lived in student housing in Manhattan’s East Village.
“It’s a very exciting neighborhood to be in if you’re a young person, but it also got a little exhausting to live there because it never slowed down,” McKenna said. “There were people out at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night in my neighborhood.”
He met people from all walks of life, including briefly spotting Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire in an elevator lobby. Still, McKenna said he could see himself moving out of the city after a few years.
McKenna credited his success in New York to his experience with The Collegian and the Dow Journalism Program.
“I’m so grateful to Mr. Miller and Mrs. Servold and all of the Collegian editors who have given me feedback in the past, and made me a better writer and reporter. It’s a real testament to The Collegian and the journalism program that I could work at my favorite publication in American journalism with the writers I read every day, before I left college,” McKenna said.
