As a senior in college, I have a difficult time keeping up with the news, let alone what’s going on in the world of politics. I know it’s important to stay on top of the state of the world, especially with a presidential election next year, but finding the time in the day to read the news, digest it, and actually get what’s happening can be a lot. Despite the fact that Gen Z will undoubtedly have a massive effect on this upcoming election, none of the information is ever presented in a way that is aimed at us, with news platforms seemingly always speaking directly to older generations. That’s why whenever I want to know what’s going on but want to actually understand what I’m learning, I listen to the Girl and the Gov, The Podcast.
I like that in this show, the hosts, Sammy Kanter and Maddie Medved, speak like normal people and actually explain the issues of today in a palatable, unintimidating way that makes me want to learn more. On their recent podcast episode called, “Political Careers: Campaign Management 101 with Sarah Andrews,” they interview Andrews, former campaign manager for Colorado Governor Polis and currently the Federal & Gubernatorial Campaigns Director at EMILY’s List, discussing her experiences in both roles, more specifically, the journey to becoming a campaign manager and the daily aspects of the role.
The interview was really cool and spoke to a lot of aspects of politics that I was completely unaware of. One of the interesting tidbits at the beginning of the podcast that Andrews spoke on briefly but really stuck with me, was how diverse the political field was college-major wise. What I mean by that is that politics isn’t just something you study in poli-sci and then just get into. A lot of the time, people in political careers will study a whole host of different things in school and later join politics despite not going with the “traditional path” that we assume they pursue. As a student who still doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, it’s always so encouraging to hear that careers aren’t automatically defined by what you study in college.
Throughout the episode, Andrews was really detailed while depicting her different roles and giving the inside scoop on how a career in politics truly works and how varied these careers truly can be, but also how difficult it can be as a woman in a career that was designed by men for men.
These are just some of the highlights that I particularly enjoyed from this episode, if you have an interest in a career in politics or just politics in general, I would definitely recommend checking out the rest of the episode to hear more from Andrews and her story.
Even if you don’t want to pursue a career in politics, there was still some really valuable insight in the conversation with Andrews. One of her quotes that I particularly loved was, “Keep your head down, hustle, be passionate, you’re gonna end up in good places.”