Lauryn Antoine didn\u2019t become interested in politics until high school when, she said, \u201cIt kind of happened progressively\u2014I fell into it.\u201d The more she learned about feminism and critical race theory, the more her interest grew. Politics became her career path. \u201cI got into political science and wanting to help stamp out bias and racism. I\u2019m interested in bringing my feminism to policy. I\u2019m trying to reach out and help people who are marginalized,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Antoine graduated from ESU in May 2020 with a degree in political science. While at ESU, Antoine participated in the Osgood Center Program, a 2-week educational program that focuses on politics, domestic and foreign policy, media, and public policy. \u201cDr. [Kimberly] Adams took me and a couple of other students to this program in Washington, D.C. We participated in lectures and discussions and learned leadership skills from guest speakers,\u201d Antoine said. The roster of speakers included professors, authors, legislators, attorneys, analysts, and the founder of C-SPAN. The student group also visited the U.S. Capitol, Mount Vernon, and several museums.<\/p>\n
As a student, Antoine completed fellowships with two nonprofits and worked as an intern for Representative Susan Wild (PA-07). These opportunities gave her firsthand experience with the world of politics. \u201cI greeted visitors, picked up the phone and talked to constituents. If a person had an issue with a federal agency, we would reach out to our contacts at that agency and help figure out the issue. I tracked things in the database to see who was helped by our office. We tried to help them in any way possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Now living in Harrisburg, Antoine started her job as a legislative assistant with the Pennsylvania House Democrats in June 2021. Her internship helped prepare her for the job. \u201cI still help constituents. If they have issues with any state agencies, we help move the process forward. If someone has any issues with PennDOT\u2014for instance, if they\u2019ve applied for a handicapped placard, we help move that forward. We will go down to the house floor and introduce legislation. We track the representatives\u2019 travel expenses so they can be reimbursed. I help make sure things move more smoothly,\u201d Antoine explains. She stresses the importance of internships when it comes to gaining professional experience. \u201cMany people may underestimate how much they mimic real job experience. With mine [for Rep. Wild], I was basically like a staff member. When I pick up phones here in Harrisburg, I\u2019m doing the exact same thing that I did in my internship. There are the little things you\u2019re introduced to beforehand\u2014you\u2019re familiar with it, you excel at it. You\u2019re ready to go when you\u2019re on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antoine works closely with legislative decision makers and influential figures. She met Governor Tom Wolf during her first week when she was shadowing a fellow legislative assistant. Antoine was asked if she wanted to go to an event for the Toni Morrison Society. While there, Representative Stephen Kinsey (D-Philadelphia) asked Antoine if she would like to meet the governor. Every day is different\u2014that\u2019s what makes it exciting and interesting.<\/p>\n
Antoine is well on her way to fulfilling her professional ambitions. Her future plans include earning a master\u2019s degree in public administration. \u201cI can see myself working in a variety of departments or agencies in the government to learn more about policy in hands-on way,\u201d she said. \u201cOne day, I would like to take these experiences and knowledge of policy to lead a non-profit organization that advocate for women\u2019s rights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lauryn Antoine didn\u2019t become interested in politics until high school when, she said, \u201cIt kind of happened progressively\u2014I fell into it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":21082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,20,42,50,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-esu-success-stories","category-news-release","category-political-science","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21080"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21085,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21080\/revisions\/21085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}