The holidays are over, work is back in full swing, and the house does not sit again until February 19. There are officially only four weeks left until our first placement is over, and we are left wondering where the time has gone.
Since the house has risen, things are comparatively much quieter. This is a time where all political staffers (as well as us, the interns) get the opportunity to catch up on all the work we haven’t had time for when the house was sitting. It is a time of reflection, rest, and planning so that when the house does sit again, we will all be ready!
January is also the time when OLIP does its last push for recruitment. There are plenty of Facebook Live sessions with the interns as well as in-person info sessions at universities accessible by train or car!
For those of you reading this blog, we hope you apply to OLIP or encourage someone you know to apply. To review, this is a 10-month program where interns spend four months staffing a member of government, then another four with a member of opposition. We are with our members from Monday to Thursday, and Friday we save for meetings. We have meetings with numerous officials and sponsors. If you follow along with us on Twitter, you’ll see that we are usually busy on Fridays; we’ve met with the current and some previous premiers, academics, journalists, and many more. In addition, we participate in study tours! We’ve already visited Ottawa as a group and we are looking forward to our next trip to Yellowknife in February. We will also visit Vancouver and London, England in the coming months.
Being an OLIP intern means so many different things to all of us. It’s more than study tours and being around Ontario’s politicians. It’s an experience that includes new friendships, the promise of career opportunities and endless, endless learning (about all aspects of Ontario, our government, and the people who live in this province). This internship is definitely difficult to describe in just a few paragraphs. It’s not always perfect, and each of us deal with hardships in different ways. But this is similar to any job that one finds themselves in. It’s challenging as well as rewarding, and I know that we all feel lucky to be here.
If you are someone who is interested in applying to OLIP, if you haven’t done so already, I suggest attending an info session on Facebook Live, or even reaching out to one of us personally! This is a time for recent graduates that all OLIPers have gone through before, a time of uncertainty for the future and waiting for application results. We’ve been there and we empathize! Speak to an OLIP intern if you have any questions, and we will be ready to give you honest answers.
Good luck, and thanks for reading!