Rachel Robbins, a junior in the College of Agricultural Sciences, parlayed her interests in government, history and photography into a rare experience at the White House last semester. The community, environment and development major spent the fall of 2014 hanging out with the president's pooches, documenting unpublished photographs of the Obama administration and rubbing shoulders with White House staff and politicians alike.
But Robbins' success story was preceded by careful planning and hard work. Last year, she applied for Penn State's Washington Program, an undergraduate opportunity offered through the College of Communications. The program selects a small number of juniors and seniors to spend a semester in Washington, D.C., where they are housed in apartments owned by Penn State.
While there, they have the opportunity to take classes taught by Penn State faculty and are encouraged to find an internship in Washington that corresponds to their career goals.
For Robbins, being accepted into the Washington Program was a dream come true. "I love Washington, D.C., and have always wanted to live there. Even if I didn't score a great internship, I knew just being in the epicenter of our country's political scene would be a great experience," the Pittsburgh native said.
Robbins took a chance and applied to intern at the White House through a leadership initiative for young men and women called The White House Internship Program. Once she was accepted, she was placed in the White House's photography office because of her interests and prior experience with photography.
"The Photo Office was perfect for me. The staff there photographs the administration, documenting history," she explained.