Sarah Neal ’18: Federal Affairs Intern at New England Council

My name is Sarah Neal and I graduated in 2018 as a French and English double major with a concentration in Creative Writing. I’m currently an intern on the Federal Affairs team of the New England Council, a non-partisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public/private organizations. I am working in their D.C. office, where the team focuses on both directly lobbying members of the New England delegation on behalf of our members, as well as facilitating lobbying by putting on events where members can speak to their delegates themselves.

On an average day, I spend most of my time researching and writing, which is why I believe my English major prepared me perfectly for this line of work. Each week I write briefs on legislation and federal policy covering topics on technology, finance, and education, all sectors that I entered my internship having little experience in. However, I quickly found that graduating with an English degree gave me the tools to conduct thorough research on legislative issues and clearly synthesize my findings. I am in the process of looking for a job to start once my internship concludes at the end of the year, and am pursuing public policy opportunities on Capitol Hill as well as at a few corporations in the D.C. area.

My one piece of advice to my fellow English majors is to never feel as though the skills you’ve picked up in English classes are not applicable beyond the literary world. I was always worried that if I didn’t want to pursue publishing then I would never find a job, but ultimately I think most industries are looking for good writers. I’ve found that adept communication skills truly leave you with a wealth of opportunity.