“It was this really perfect mesh of the two interests,” Byrd says. Her path to the job started at a Bucknell Institute of Public Policy event in the nation’s capital, where she met a client of the firm.
After interning in the city through the Bucknell in Washington, D.C., program, Byrd was all in. “I loved being here,” she says.
Byrd’s interest in politics started early. Her parents were “pretty political” and encouraged discussion of local, state and national affairs at the family dinner table. By middle school, she was eager to learn what she could about government and politics, and she just kept going through high school and into her studies at Bucknell.
“I had really incredible professors in the political science department,” she says, mentioning two in particular, Professor Scott Meinke, her adviser and research supervisor, and Professor Chris Ellis ’00, who led an especially stimulating class in public-policy topics.
“I’ve always had this passion for giving a voice to people who don’t have a voice,” says Byrd. “I feel that politics is one of the best mechanisms to do so.”
As summer progressed, so did Byrd, who left D.C. and her job to pursue another passion — travel — and assess the next steps in her career.
“I love politics, and I will stay involved one way or another,” says Byrd. “But there’s a way to be really politically active without making it your career. I think it’s really, really important that people do their civic duty, voice their opinions, whatever those opinions may be, and to fight for what they believe in.”
“It was this really perfect mesh of the two interests,” Byrd says. Her path to the job started at a Bucknell Institute of Public Policy event in the nation’s capital, where she met a client of the firm.
After interning in the city through the Bucknell in Washington, D.C., program, Byrd was all in. “I loved being here,” she says.
Byrd’s interest in politics started early. Her parents were “pretty political” and encouraged discussion of local, state and national affairs at the family dinner table. By middle school, she was eager to learn what she could about government and politics, and she just kept going through high school and into her studies at Bucknell.
“I had really incredible professors in the political science department,” she says, mentioning two in particular, Professor Scott Meinke, her adviser and research supervisor, and Professor Chris Ellis ’00, who led an especially stimulating class in public-policy topics.
“I’ve always had this passion for giving a voice to people who don’t have a voice,” says Byrd. “I feel that politics is one of the best mechanisms to do so.”
As summer progressed, so did Byrd, who left D.C. and her job to pursue another passion — travel — and assess the next steps in her career.
“I love politics, and I will stay involved one way or another,” says Byrd. “But there’s a way to be really politically active without making it your career. I think it’s really, really important that people do their civic duty, voice their opinions, whatever those opinions may be, and to fight for what they believe in.”