Addison Osborne ('20)
Deputy Scheduler for Senator Bill Hagerty, Washington D.C.
New Union graduate Addison Osborne recently completed two political internships with the White House and a Republican National Convention-affiliated committee and credits her time at Union as a great preparation for the positions.
Osborne is from Barbourville, Kentucky, and graduated from Union in 2020, double majoring in political science and history.
During the summer, she served with the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Convention. In this role, she worked in the department of official proceedings to assist with the program portion and speaker logistics of the convention.
Though all the committee鈥檚 interns were eventually dismissed when a large portion of the convention was canceled due to rising COVID-19 cases, Osborne already knew she had secured a White House internship. She worked with the Office of Political Affairs for the White House in Washington, D.C., from September through December. The Office of Political Affairs advances and supports partnerships in support of the president and his policy agenda. Osborne was part of the outreach team that reached out to key constituencies and tracked congressional, senatorial and governor鈥檚 races in 25 states.
Osborne said she learned that in jobs in politics, there are two routes to take: the policy side that helps draft and pass legislation, and the political side, which helps candidates get elected. Her internships dealt more with the political side, where she enjoyed learning about messaging and the different levels and components of a campaign.
鈥淚 was really fortunate to place in the Office [of Political Affairs] right in the middle of an election season, so I really felt like I got a front-row seat on this year鈥檚 election,鈥� she said.
Osborne said that her time at Union was 鈥減ivotal鈥� in preparing her for these two internships. Sean Evans, department chair and professor of political science, and Greg Ryan, associate professor of political science, were especially supportive in helping her secure her internships.
She said she accidentally gave Evans the wrong deadline for a letter of recommendation for her White House internship. She emailed him the day of the deadline and realized her mistake, and said her stomach sank because the letter was due that day.
鈥淏ut just being the intentional and just a good professor that he is, he used his entire Friday night to write my letter so I could get it in by midnight,鈥� Osborne said.
Osborne said she is thankful for the sacrifice Evans made to write that letter, because she would not have been accepted to the internship program without it.
鈥淚 really believe trying to manage school and all my extracurriculars really helped me in my internships,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a lot to manage, and so because I knew I could manage it at Union, I felt confident I could manage whatever tasks or projects my internships threw at me.鈥�
During her time as a student, Osborne was a part of the Chi Omega sorority, involved in the Student Government Association and worked as a study lab instructor in the Center for Academic Success. She also served as a small group leader for middle school girls at Englewood Baptist Church. Osborne said she felt like she became a better student at Union 鈥� she learned how to manage her time, write and communicate better and gained knowledge of history, current events and politics.
鈥淯nion was the absolute best place to be,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really do believe that without the support of my friends and professors and intentional, personal help, I would not be where I am. So, I鈥檓 always thankful for Union and the skills that it鈥檚 helped me develop.鈥�
Osborne graduated from Union in December, and in early January she began working as a deputy scheduler with Senator Bill Hagerty in his D.C. office. For her long-term career goals, Osborne said she enjoys the political types of jobs and would like to continue to help Republican candidates get elected. She is also considering going to law school in the future.
She is grateful for her time at Union that has helped her be where she is today.
鈥淚t would be hard to find a better place to land than Union, just because of the intentionality of the professors and friends,鈥� Osborne said. 鈥淚 think it would be hard to find that at a bigger school or even a small school that is not so Christ-centered. I think because we make that a priority, how we interact together is different.
鈥淚 believe that if I went somewhere else, it would be hard to find professors who just give you so much time and attention and are willing to support you and all of your dreams and goals.鈥�