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[Interviewer] Welcome to the University of North Georgia Political Science & International Affairs Department's YouTube channel. In this segment of our "Meet Our Students" series, you get the opportunity to meet Carly Evans. Having come to ºìÁ«ÉçÇø from North Hall High School in Gainesville, initially as a dual-enrollment student, Carly is currently a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Political Science with a pre-law concentration.


We caught up with Carly shortly after completion of her spring 2022 semester, during which she participated, along with a select few other Georgia university students in the Georgia Governor’s Internship Program.


To start us off Carly, would you please tell us a little bit about yourself?


[Carly] I went to North Hall High School in Gainesville. I am from Gainesville, Georgia. Here on campus I am involved in our Political Science Students Association as the social media chair, as well as Vice-President of Kappa Delta sorority on campus.


[Interviewer] And what is Kappa Delta?


[Carly] It's a Pan-Hellenic sorority. It's Greek life here on campus. We do community service, we do sister-hood activities, things of that nature.


[Interviewer] Okay. Well, let's go back to when you first joined the PSIA family Carly. What got you into the world of political science, initially as a high school senior. Why did you choose to seek specifically your pre-law aspect of the political science degree, and perhaps most importantly, why here at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø?


[Carly] I think I always knew that I was interested in pursuing a law career early on in my education. Maybe middle school was when I first knew that those were one of the few careers I was interested in. And as I continued my education I found myself more interested in the social studies aspects of my education. Specifically, whenever we talked about government or law.

 
And then I enrolled at University of North Georgia my junior year of high school as a dual-enrollment student. I took classes like American Government and Political Science or Introduction to Political Science, excuse me. And, I just, I really enjoyed the courses.


My advisor at the time was Mr. Sutton. He was a political science professor as well. And, he really encouraged me to, you know, give it a try. And I've loved it ever since the beginning. I've enjoyed every single professor that I've had in the department.


And, more specifically, I took International Affairs the spring of my junior year, I believe. And, Dr. Christian Harris was my professor. He was a professor that really inspired me. He was just an incredible professor. He, his teaching style really matches well with how I learn. We developed a close relationship and he spoke to me more about our pre-law program and encouraged me to take classes with Dr. Meacham, who is kind of in charge of the pre-law concentration here at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. And I just really fell in love with the subject. I fell in love with the department. And so I've continued to stay on that path.
 

[Interviewer] Shifting to your recently completed semester... I understand you are only one of thirteen students selected by Gov. Kemp's office? How did it feel to be among that select few chosen to participate in, in arguably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

 
[Carly] It was honestly, probably the best opportunity I could have taken, that I've taken so far in my lifetime. I'm really glad that I applied for the internship and I ended up getting the internship and doing it.


I'm really glad that I did it full-time, because I learned so much more and grew so much closer with the staff. It felt very empowering to be a part of such an incredibly bright group of people. I mean, these are arguably the brightest people in politics in our state. And they're all incredibly intelligent people. And, it just felt very empowering.
 

And I felt like, honestly, a lot of the time, that I didn't deserve to be there, but as I continued in the position I grew more confident, and realized that, hey, I can compete with these other students or I can match their abilities in that subject matters. So that's what I would say. It felt very empowering by the end of it for sure.


[Interviewer] Where did you spend your time specifically during the internship?
 

[Carly] I spent my time in the Communications Department of the Governor's Office. So, we handled ceremonial documents, which are proclamations; to commendations. We also handled social media; social media graphics. We also handled reaching out to press; inviting press to events; setting up press conferences.


[Interviewer] I'm curious about your overall impressions of your time with the Governor's Office.
 

[Carly] I would say some of the most positive things were getting to meet all of these prominent political figures in our state government. From having interactions with Gov. Kemp on a day-to-day basis. And Mrs. Kemp. As well as meeting people like Lt. Gov. Jeff Duncan. I actually got the opportunity to go in his office on my last day and explore some secret areas of the capital, which was really cool.
 

I got to go in House chambers and the Senate chambers. And that's not something that every person in Georgia gets to do. So that's, that was really, really cool.

 
I also got to meet ... what was cool as well was setting him up for interviews with like Fox News or something, with Neil Cavuto or things like that. I mean, I would get the room setup, help set up the cameras, and then, he'd be live on TV, which is really neat in my opinion.

 

I thought that it was really cool, which was super positive.


Everyone on staff was super positive. They picked up early on that I was interested in going to law school and the Governor's Executive Council, as well as, his legal team were so forth giving with advice and suggestions for me and really shaped my future as far as my law school plans and things of that nature. They took hours out of their day to talk to me about what I should do, what plans I should pursue.


The Governor's family, they're great people. I always had very positive interactions with them. I genuinely enjoyed working every day with everyone on staff.


Another positive thing, I got to meet State Senator Butch Miller on Sine Die. I got to be there on Sine Die until midnight. I got to sit in the Senate gallery or House gallery because I was an Office of the Governor employee. I got to meet so many different senators within our government.

 

So I, I really can't say enough positive things about it.


The only negative thing was the drive -- traffic. Driving to Atlanta every day is not fun.


[Interviewer] Give us a quick idea Carly, of what that did for you in your mind, both personally and professionally?


[Carly] It made, it matured me in so many ways personally and professionally. It was the first time in my life that I had worked in such a professional environment. I'm a college student and I've always worked in the food service industry. It was my first time in an office with very professional and like-minded people. And that, that was really healthy for me personally, honestly.


And professionally, I learned so much about, you know, representing the governor from a communication standpoint or any political figure for that matter. And that's experience I can use for the rest of my career if I decide I want to go the politics route, or I get tired of practicing law one day and decide I want to go maybe try communications for someone in politics.

 
I think it provided me with very valuable professional experience.
 

And again, just getting the opportunity to speak with the Governor's Executive Council and his legal team was really, really valuable for me.


[Interviewer] What experiences over the last couple of years from our Political Science program have been most meaningful to you? Specifically, what you used during your internship, and which of those experiences from the program do you anticipate being most meaningful or most helpful to your future career?
 

[Carly] First of all, I, I really have so much, so many positive things to say about the professors in our Political Science department.


Now there may have been times I was frustrated with like an assignment or writing all these essays. Getting a, being a political science student is a ton of writing and it can be very challenging. But I felt very well-prepared. Ironically, I feel like I really developed my writing skills early on in English 1102. I know that that might sound silly but it's such an important class. I learned so much about writing and how to be a better writer in that class.


And then, Dr. Harris really taught me a lot about, you know, just the international world of politics. Like just pretty much a world that I never really knew before and never knew that I would be interested in. And I enjoyed his classes so much that I ended up taking two more  regarding Latin American development, Latin American politics.
 

I say the class most helpful to me in my future career plans would be Dr. Meacham's courses. Dr. Meacham went to law school and he was a practicing attorney for awhile. And he uses, he kinda uses the Socratic method to teach his courses, especially those that are very concentrated on American law or judicial processes, things of that nature as opposed to like law and society. He does have some societal courses, but the ones that are very law heavy are extremely difficult but very helpful.


I was super intimidated by Dr. Meachem at first, and how hard those classes were gonna be, but they are probably the best couple classes I've taken in political science.


American Constitutional Law specifically gave me a great foundation of understanding how the law works, as well as Moot Court, it kinda taught me, you know, how you argue against an opposing counsel, what the processes of writing a brief and then having an oral argument over that brief. And, since I am interested in law, it was something that was really, really helpful for me because now when I'm in my current internship -- not talking about the Governor's Office -- I know what's going on.

 

Now as far as the Governor's Office, I would say probably the most helpful ... There's nothing that can really prepare you to be in that position I feel like. I think it just takes experience in politics. But I think my basic classes as in American Government, Intro to Political Science, State Government -- it kind of helped me have those foundations. As well as doing some social media for PSSA.


But in the end of the day it was kind of a learn as I go process because working in the Governor's Office is kinda unlike anything anybody has really done before unless they've done it before,


[Interviewer] It sounds, Carly, as if you're well on your way to establishing your credentials both in the political science world and in the law world. And setting yourself up quite well for a successful career.


In closing, what do you have to say to our viewers, whether prospective students, current students, or former students?


[Carly] I would say to current students, never sell your self too short. Apply for opportunities that you meet the qualifications for. You'd be surprised what you can land. I was not really sure if I would be selected for this program and I was and it changed my life for forever.


And to future students or those considering going to North Georgia, especially those considering majoring in something in the Department of Political Science -- just know that these professors, they really care about you and they are going to help you succeed if you want to succeed.


North Georgia can provide you with such a unique opportunity in the sense that these professors have less students than a bigger school. And they can really get to know you and help you apply to those professional schools and give you advice on internships and things of that nature.


So that's what I would leave the students with.


[Interviewer] Thank you very much for your time, Carly. And I wish you all the best as you finish your studies here at ºìÁ«ÉçÇø and in your future professional career wherever you may end up going.