“This is where the fight is,” says Law. “I couldn’t have a better position right now. There’s no thrill like politics. It’s high intensity, high adrenaline, high competition.”
Reporters around the country have his cell-phone number. His name regularly appears in newspapers and on radio and TV. But what’s most important, Law says, is the opportunity to fight for the issues he cares about.
Law, who majored in economics and political science, worked his way up from his first political job after graduation, a humble internship with his home-state senator Dianne Feinstein (D–Calif.). His key break came when Bucknell’s alumni network led him to Martha McKenna ’96, an influential Democratic campaign consultant.
She graciously met him for coffee and then connected him with his first election campaign, former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s bid for U.S. Senate in 2012. After eight months of intense work and a victory on election day, Law was hooked.
Is he worried that some of his peers will look down on him for working in the “swamp” that is politics in Washington D.C.?
Not a chance.
Pointing to other popular career choices among college graduates, Law says, “Politics is a lot more honorable and personally rewarding than what I could be doing.”
Regardless of the work you do, he says, “It’s a natural human instinct to be happy about a job well done.” But if you genuinely care about the product or the cause you’re involved with, “it’s even better.”
Law plans to deliver that message when he comes back to campus this fall, for a forum featuring Bucknell alumni who’ve gone into politics.
And if current students need some help in their search, he’s at the ready. Citing the boost he got from connecting with McKenna, he says, “I hope to pay it forward the way she did for me.”