Tyler Belcher is a 21-year-old college student who knows getting a job after college is more than just getting good grades. He recently landed an internship with the Kentucky Legislative Research Committee and is hoping the experience will help him as he prepares for law school and a future career.
Interns assigned to a legislative committee will assist LRC professional staff in drafting and tracking bills, performing research tasks and preparing for committee meetings. LRC committee staff give interns a great deal of responsibility and their work often results in legislation that will affect the entire state.
Belcher, who graduated from Daviess County High School, is currently a senior at Murray State University, and is studying political science and pre-professional legal studies. He plans on attending law school next fall.
The LRC internship was recommended to Belcher by a friend and he was excited about the idea of working in Frankfort.
“It was an opportunity to work at the Capitol and to make an immediate difference in public policy which is something I care a lot about,” he said. “In the past year I came to the conclusion that my passion is not rooted in the politics that you see on TV, but much more so in the law and in finding logical remedies to situations.”
Belcher is hoping the internship helps him further his abilities to research, write and present critical information – all of which will help him in law school.
“I am really excited to be apart of an internship that is fact-driven and purposed with assisting the Kentucky General Assembly in a direct and significant manner,” he said. “ I also knew that being able to participate in this program would likely provide a number of incredible networking opportunities that would be very helpful for my career.”
There is also an academic side to his internship. There are two courses taught in Frankfort, the Kentucky Legislative Process and Problems in State Government. Belcher also has to be enrolled as a full-time college student to be selected as an intern.
In November, Belcher will attend orientation and will be able to request his committee assignments and meet other members of the intern class.
“I just feel so fortunate to have been selected by the Legislative Research Commission for this incredible opportunity,” Belcher said. “This past year I have interviewed for a number internships with agencies including the FBI, FDA, and the Secret Service and when you aren’t selected for something like that, you often kind of wonder if it was something you said in the interview or if it was something else. At the end of the day, I always used to tell myself that whoever got it was probably the one who really deserved it because they were probably much more qualified than I was. I am just so happy that the LRC believed that I could make an excellent contribution to their new class of interns.”
