Washington State University Student Selected for Prestigious Congressional Internship

PULLMAN, Wash.— While most college students will spend their summer working odd jobs or going to school, Andrea Hall will be at our nation’s capital learning from our country’s top health policy officials. A senior sociology major at Washington State University, Hall was selected from a pool of 300 candidates for a Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Congressional Internship.

The nine-week internship runs from late May to late July and includes a stipend of $1,500, round-trip airfare to Washington, D.C., free lodging at Howard University and a daily expense allowance. “I plan to represent WSU and my native community with 110 percent effort and look at this experience as an exciting, motivating and life-changing event,” said Hall, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation from Mission, Ore.

As a way to honor the legacy of Barbara Jordan, a former member of the U.S. Congress and the first African-American elected to the Texas Senate, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation established in 2000 the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program. The program aims to create opportunities for minority students in careers related to health policy, an area Jordan felt significantly impacts vulnerable populations.

Hall’s internship will be devoted to learning how the federal government works, participating in seminars and site visits, conducting health policy research and developing a group presentation with the14 other interns selected from across the country.

She believes her experience serving on her reservation’s Health Commission and attending Northwest and national Indian Health Board meetings gives her a unique perspective on health care issues.  “As a member of the Health Commission I experienced worried patients directly affected by the decrease in federal funding. The budget cuts impact the people I know and love and I worry that they will stop going to the doctor because they can’t afford the premiums and co-pays,” said Hall.

Hall will miss seeing her two children, Peyton and Kaeleh, during her internship, but they will continue to provide her with inspiration while she studies in Washington, D.C.  “I want my kids to know that my goal is to make their lives and the lives of future generations better.”

Besides working on her sociology degree, Hall is chair of WSU’s Coalition of Women Students and participates in the Native American Women’s Association and Commission on the Status of Women. She also serves as a mentor for first-year students in the Native American Student Center.  She plans to pursue graduate studies in Health Policy and Administration at WSU Spokane or WSU Vancouver following the completion of her undergraduate degree.

Andrea Hall, WSU student selected for the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Congressional Internship Program, can be reached at Women’s Resource Center at (509) 335-6849 or at ahall_cayuse@wsu.edu.