Anna Hunter is a first generation college student from Dacula, GA. She is a senior, majoring in Economics and International Affairs (EIA) with a minor in Russian studies. Anna takes pride in working her way through college by taking on multiple internships, as well as engaging in research, study abroad, on-campus organizations, and living at the GT ThinkBig International House. She interned with the Department of Defense and recently returned to campus after a year abroad at the London School of Economics. After graduation she has sights on returning to the Pentagon. We asked her a few questions about how her time at Tech has helped her succeed in this internship and shaped her career goals.
What did you enjoy most about your internship and what do you find most challenging?
The best part of my internship with the Department of Defense was that I was the first intern to have my work approved through the chain-of-command in the DoD and sent to the White House. The most challenging part of my internship was adapting to the new environment, which at the DoD is extremely fast-paced and has its own language.
Tell us about an experience that made an impression on you during your internship.
One of my bosses trusted me enough to hold a meeting with the Joint Staff. These men have had careers in the military longer than I have been alive, and I, a brand new and temporary intern, was supposed to engage them about policy decisions. Despite having never met some of these men before and an extreme case of the nerves, the meeting went exceptionally well. I received good feedback and helped my department accomplish a critical task. It was a trying but extremely sweet victory.
In what ways did your time at Tech prepare you for the internship?
Tech prepared me for my internship through the environment Tech provides on a daily basis. Each day at Georgia Tech I am confronted with varying personalities and differing types of genius, which prepared me for the multi-faceted personalities I encountered in Washington D.C. and the Pentagon. Also, Tech has made me a very adaptive and well-rounded student through its rigorous and expansive curriculum.
