Juliet Williams is heading to Georgetown for law school after completing an internship in the Washington State Legislature
The fast-paced environment of the 105-day Washington State legislative session thrilled political science major Juliet Williams ’23. Heels clicked on the granite floors of the state capitol in Olympia. Senators hustled to pass bills. And interns answered constituent calls and emails. Williams’ 2023 internship made her long to experience another capital city: Washington D.C. The 2023 Seattle Pacific Univesity graduate is headed to Georgetown Law this fall.
“I knew D.C. would have a lot of opportunities that wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she said, explaining how Georgetown became her first choice.
Hailing from the small town of Prosser, Washington, Williams had never been to the state’s capital city, Olympia, before her internship. She worked with Senator Noel Frame of the 36th district and took the lead on constituent correspondence. When Amazon laid off 2,300 people in Seattle and Bellevue, many of them contacted the senator’s office about what to do next.
“I got a swarm of people needing help with unemployment,” she said. “Helping so many people in a span of a week made me feel good.” Williams hopes to be involved with public service after law school, potentially as counsel for the Democratic Caucus in a state legislature.
She expected to find a hostile environment at the state Capitol, where Democrats and Republicans sparred constantly but instead found that most bills had bipartisan support. Not only did senators from opposite political parties work well together, but they also enjoyed each other’s company outside of the Capitol. Senator Frame hosted a bipartisan karaoke night where Williams watched Republicans and Democrats belt out pop tunes in unison.
“It was so refreshing to see [politicians] being so human,” Williams said. “The senators are trying to get the same thing done, and that’s what bonds them together.”
Williams only had 100 students in her high school class and was drawn to SPU because of the small class sizes. She didn’t think she could handle a large lecture hall four years ago, but now she feels ready for Georgetown’s larger class sizes.
“SPU helped me become more comfortable and more confident in transitioning to a big law school,” Williams said.
