Second-year student reflects on White House internship

Louis Senn spent the summer of 2018 as an intern at the White House.

For a law student who is interested in policy and history, Louis Senn's summer internship at the White House was a perfect fit. 

The second-year student at the Brandeis School of Law spent the summer of 2018 as an intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. 

"Whether it's a constituent in middle, rural America to a county clerk or an elected official ... it's the primary reception of written correspondence for the president," he says of the office.

In his role, Senn analyzed letters and helped determine how best to respond to them. He also assisted in writing some of the responses.

And while the role didn't involve legal work, Senn says the experience taught him valuable skills for lawyers.

"It taught you to be as efficient as possible while being as accurate as possible. You really had to learn how to do it as quickly as possible because there's a lot of work to be done. At the same time, it can't be wrong. There can't be errors," he says. "Certainly, going forward into a legal career, it's reading through your drafts and your memos and making sure that you're not submitting something to the court that's sloppy and full of errors."

Senn, who has a bachelor's degree in philosophy, says he was interested in law school in part because of his interest in policy work. 

"I like the behind-the-scenes work. I love policy work. It was very eye-opening to work at the White House," he says. "It was so fascinating to see all of these departments that work together to create this very smooth operation. It was really an insight into how the executive branch works."