{"id":3772,"date":"2015-05-15T14:09:56","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T14:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2016\/02\/17\/a-presidential-appointment\/"},"modified":"2024-07-24T09:44:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T13:44:14","slug":"a-presidential-appointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/a-presidential-appointment\/","title":{"rendered":"A presidential appointment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nWhen Sustainability Science\/Spanish major Michael Robinson \u201916 received an internship in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Energy and Climate Change, he thought he\u2019d be in for a fair amount of administrative duties. \u201cSurely they wouldn\u2019t rely on interns to do much but help keep the office running,\u201d Robinson recalls saying to himself. Far more than making copies, random errand-running, and fetching coffee, Robinson quickly learned he was in for a great deal more. \u201c[The people in the Executive Office] really give you a long leash to take on responsibility, and they trust you by the end if you warrant that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Greensboro, N.C. native didn\u2019t rub elbows with President Barack Obama on a daily basis during his spring semester internship, but he did get the chance to meet the POTUS toward the end of his stint, and participated in high-level meetings as part of a seven member team in the Office of Energy and Climate Change, just one component of the White House Domestic Policy Council.<\/p>\n

The Office of Energy and Climate Change is charged with implementing the President\u2019s Climate Action Plan, which was released in 2013 and advanced the administration\u2019s environmental roadmap for the second term and beyond.<\/p>\n

Coordinating climate change initiatives across multiple agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture, each with their own priorities, Robinson\u2019s office canvassed their efforts and charted policies emerging from those agencies.<\/p>\n

The office also coordinated meetings among industry, consulting firms, and intergovernmental stakeholders like mayors, governors, and state-run agencies (e.g., transportation, departments of natural resources, energy commissions) to identify new opportunities for creating green jobs, reducing dependence on oil, and transitioning to a clean energy economy. Of the intergovernmental stakeholders Robinson says, \u201cOutreach to these groups is a big priority for the administration\u2014to be accessible to local and state governments, listening to feedback from different rules and officials\u2019 response to executive action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of Robinson\u2019s duties was keeping abreast of news and staying ahead of potential challenges to the President\u2019s plan\u2013looming attacks on regulations, or brewing legal opposition to climate change policy. Adding to a constant stream of fact-finding was a speaker series where cabinet- and senior-level officials briefed Robinson and company on various topics. Says Robinson, \u201cOn regular basis, senior staffers would spend time talking with us, giving advice, answering our questions\u2014anyone from the Chief of Staff, chief speech writers, Vice President Joe Biden, or First Lady Michelle Obama, would come in and spend an hour or more with us to take our questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson, a Shi Center for Sustainability Fellow who went through four rounds of vetting to snag the only intern position at the White House related to climate change, says the takeaways from the experience were many. \u201cMy experience informed a decision to go back to D.C. one day,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s probably the most important outcome of all this \u2026 figuring out that I like working in the government sphere.\u201d\"michael<\/a><\/p>\n

In his humble way, Robinson admits he was unsure about his ability to hold his own amid others in the internship program whom he describes as \u201chigh-achieving, type A, law school bound, and headed for illustrious careers \u2026\u201d He says, \u201cI was not in that mold at all.\u201d Having completed a successful term in D.C., Robinson says, \u201cLearning if you\u2019ll sink or swim is a big thing to understand about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not known for being politically-minded, Robinson came away from his time in D.C. with a new passion for policy. To round out his last year at Furman, Robinson is committed to getting involved in political organizations on campus and perhaps investing time in presidential campaigning. He also came away with a newfound resolve to encourage students to seek opportunities outside the classroom through internships or study away. \u201cNot everyone thinks about taking a semester off to do something like this, and it\u2019s a risk, but this internship was one of the most important decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps ranking a close second for life decisions was Robinson\u2019s study away semester in Spain prior to his White House internship. He says study away is an opportunity to open your mind, clear the cobwebs, and experience an entirely different culture. He credits his time in Spain for becoming fluent in Spanish through the language immersion program there.<\/p>\n

Basking in the glow of the study away and White House experiences, Robinson offers advice for the incoming or prospective student. \u201cWhen you come to college, don\u2019t tell yourself before day one that you have to graduate in four years, or that there has to be a pre-determined path to follow. You need to find what you want to do while you\u2019re here \u2026 We are so into having everything figured out ahead of time, but sometimes it\u2019s really nice to let go \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking with wisdom beyond his years, Robinson sums his advice with one word\u2014relax. \u201cIf you put your head down and work hard, opportunities open up for you as a Furman student, they really do \u2026\u201d In full view of the West Wing, next door to the White House in the Executive Office Building, Robinson remembers, \u201cEvery day I\u2019d look around and say, \u2018Wow, I work in the White House for the most important man in the world.\u2019 It never ceased to amaze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about the\u00a0Shi Center for Sustainability<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0sustainability science major.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Sustainability Science\/Spanish major Michael Robinson \u201916 received an internship in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Energy and Climate Change, he thought he\u2019d be in for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":14880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,34,17,58,18,27,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","category-admission","category-centers-and-institutes","category-internships","category-shi-institute-for-sustainable-communities","category-student-life","category-study-away-and-international-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33247,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3772\/revisions\/33247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}