{"id":136433,"date":"2021-03-02T11:15:46","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T21:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=136433"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:42:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T04:42:53","slug":"internship-key-to-career-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/02\/internship-key-to-career-success\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Rep<\/abbr>. Kahele chief of staff says internship key to career success"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"person
Christy Wagner is chief of staff for U.S. Rep<\/abbr>. Kai Kahele.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a> alumna Christy Wagner<\/strong> has excelled for more than 10 years in several professional positions in Washington, D.C.<\/abbr> Recently, the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island native has taken on her most challenging position yet—chief of staff for U.S.<\/abbr> Rep<\/abbr>. Kai Kahele<\/strong>, who is also a UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate.<\/p>\n

Wagner\u2019s start in the nation\u2019s capital began with a UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa internship from the M\u0101noa Political Internship Program<\/a> (MPIN<\/abbr>) in the College of Social Sciences<\/a>. She was part of the first cohort of political interns that went to Washington, D.C.<\/abbr> in 2010 and completed her internship with the House Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve always been interested in foreign policy and defense issues so this internship was a fantastic opportunity for me to be able to get exposure to the policy areas that I was interested in, but also exposure to our nation\u2019s capital,” Wagner said.<\/p>\n

After completing her internship and earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in political science<\/a> and certificate in peace and conflict resolution<\/a>, Wagner remained in Washington, D.C.<\/abbr>, and served in various positions including as a legislative director, senior defense and foreign policy advisor, special assistant for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs at the Pentagon, military legislative assistant and acting chief of staff for U.S.<\/abbr> Rep<\/abbr>. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

In late 2020, Wagner was selected as chief of staff for newly-elected U.S.<\/abbr> Rep<\/abbr>. Kahele. Her duties include managing a team that supports Kahele in his Washington, D.C.<\/abbr> office, as well as working with leaders across all Hawaiian islands.<\/p>\n

Born on Oʻahu<\/span> and a graduate of Wai\u0101kea High School in Hilo, Wagner said, “It\u2019s an incredible opportunity to work for my hometown member of Congress in this role and really get to serve the people of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

Historic events at the U.S.<\/abbr> Capitol<\/h2>\n

In just a few months, Wagner witnessed firsthand a wide range of events, including Kahele\u2019s historic remarks on the house floor raising awareness for ʻ\u014dlelo<\/span> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language).<\/p>\n

“Watching that in our offices was just so inspiring and I felt so honored to be part of a team and to be working for a member of Congress who is going to be representing not only his own community, the Native Hawaiian community, but all people of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,” Wagner said. “It has been a unique time to set up a new office in the middle of an insurrection, an impeachment vote that happened in January, all in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It\u2019s certainly been challenging, but it\u2019s been incredibly rewarding.”<\/p>\n

Christy Wagner\u2019s ties to UH<\/abbr> extend beyond the MPIN<\/abbr> program. Her father is former UH<\/abbr> Football Coach Bob Wagner<\/strong>, who led UH<\/abbr> to its first two NCAA<\/abbr>-sanctioned bowl games.<\/p>\n

M\u0101noa Political Internship Program<\/h2>\n
\"two
Christy Wagner and Mari Saigal (formerly Mari Takemoto-Chock) before starting their internships in 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MPIN<\/abbr> is offering full- and part-time internship opportunities for fall 2021. These internships are educational and professional experiences for students to learn about the inner workings of government. Full-time internships are available at Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Congressional offices in Washington, D.C.<\/abbr>, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Judiciary, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> lieutenant governor\u2019s office and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> governor\u2019s office. Part-time internships are available at Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Congressional offices on Oʻahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n

A minimum sophomore standing is required for part-time internships and a minimum junior standing is required for full-time internships. All applicants must have a 3.0 GPA<\/abbr> or higher. Participants may receive stipends, course credits and scholarships.<\/p>\n

The application deadline is March 15. For more information on how to apply, visit the MPIN<\/abbr> website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This program is an example of UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal of Enhancing Student Success<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n

—By Marc Arakaki<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The M\u0101noa Political Internship Program is accepting applications until March 15, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,679,301,1480,1466,185,1026,9],"class_list":["post-136433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-manoa-academic-innovation-engaged-learning","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-political-science","tag-social-science","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136433"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136455,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136433\/revisions\/136455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}