A lone intern planted herself in the parking lot by Sen. John Kerry's Secret Service car, with a sole mission: stop the senator. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., wanted to meet with Kerry while the presidential candidate-to-be was in Washington, but the two senators' scheduling offices were unable to touch base. Anxious to see Kerry, Biden sent an intern to wait in the parking lot to ensure that Kerry found out about the desired meeting. Enter Jenny Feinberg '07, the intern selected for this task.

Feinberg, who worked for Biden for six weeks, mostly gave tours of the Capitol and answered phone calls.

"They say if you can do the shit work and still love it, then that's promising," Feinberg said.

The parking lot stakeout, one of many odd jobs that sprang up, ended rather anticlimactically. After receiving wary glances from passersby, Feinberg was approached by members of Kerry's staff who asked her what she was doing and then sent her on her way.

Like many of the other Brandeis students who embarked on political internships this summer, Feinberg was not paid. Even so, she said her time was well spent.

"To be in Washington the summer before an election is so exciting because you never know what is going to happen," she said.

This energy seemed to unite all the Brandeis interns interviewed for this article. They wanted to play a part in the political process, and they did. And they loved it, even if their work was often behind-the-scenes.

Feinberg said the office atmosphere was friendly, despite stressful tasks at times, and that she received equal treatment as did paid employees. She didn't always work directly with Biden, but saw enough of him to be impressed. She especially gushed about the attention he paid to younger voters and about his relationship with Kerry.

"Kerry is very close to Biden, they suspect they will ask him to be his secretary of state, so [Kerry] calls a lot and I was very nervous that it would be Kerry on the other line when I answered the phone," Feinberg said. "But as close as [Biden] is with Kerry, another time we had a big intern lunch with the senator and he went late to a conference call with Kerry because he was so into hearing what the interns had to say. He said to us, 'John Kerry can wait.' "

Feinberg's summer culminated in her attendance of the College Democrats of America (CDA) convention, which happened July 24-27, right before the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Feinberg was the College Democrat delegate from Brandeis.

According to CDA's Web site, more than 1,100 students from almost 400 schools attended the convention. The delegates could choose from a wide array of activities, including various speeches and Democratic Grassroots Action Institute and Network (GAIN) campaign training sessions.

"When watching the real convention later, we found out that our speakers were practicing their speeches on us," Feinberg said. "Some of the people we heard were Al Sharpton and Arianna Huffington."

Feinberg said free buses to Boston were provided through College Democrats but not housing. She slept at many different places during the CDA convention.

"I crashed at a different place every night in true grass roots style," Feinberg said. "I just had a big bag; one night I stayed at a MIT frat, once at Brandeis."

Like some other Brandeis students who have tried their hand at politics, Feinberg is not sure she wants to continue in this direction beyond graduation.

"As far as doing this professionally, now that I have been on Capitol Hill, I understand that it's the behind the scenes [work] that really gets it done," Feinberg said.

Ethan Pransky '07 is also uncertain about continuing in politics after his recent internship with Rep. John Tierney, D-Salem.

He first got involved in political work a few years ago by registering people to vote. This summer, he helped on various projects, including research relevant topics and taking calls from constituents. He also helped compile Tierney's schedule for the Democratic convention, which Pransky said originally amounted to over 50 pages of events.

"I'm not sure if I want to do this when I grow up, but I really enjoyed this internship and maybe I'll try Washington next summer to see what that's like," Pransky said.

Pransky also got his foot in the door of the convention for an entirely different reason: He worked for a catering company that served the delegates.

"When I knew I was doing the catering, I really wanted to serve Ted Kennedy and even though he was at three events I did, I never got to," Pransky said.

During the convention, Pransky ran into Robert Reich, a Brandeis professor and secretary of labor under former President Bill Clinton. The two chatted about Brandeis and the Heller School Reich is teaching this fall.

While he never encountered Kennedy in Washington, Pransky said he felt his summer was worthwhile.

"The staff was very nice and welcoming. I was happy to do whatever they asked and I still keep in contact with them," he said. "They showed me that good politicians do exist."

Hayley Tozeski '05 took a more traditional route for her work. She served as president of Brandeis chapter of the College Democrats during the 2003-04 school year, and now, as the youth outreach coordinator for College Students For Kerry, she travels to different states with other students.

"I got involved with the campaign second semester of my freshman year when Kerry was up for re-election," Tozeski said. "I started in February and in December we were told the senator was running for president. It's been about a two-and- a-half-year commitment and when I am traveling, [that amounts to] about 40 hours a week. It's very demanding, I had to be up at 5 a.m. sometimes."

According to Tozeski, this has not interfered with her classwork.

"I took a trip to Iowa the first week of classes [in January 2004] and professors were very encouraging," Tozeski said. "It was mostly Tues./Fri. classes that I was missing and teachers said simply not to miss the opportunity."

According to Tozeski, there were a number of other Brandeis students at the convention; over 50 students belong to the "Brandeis Students for Kerry" e-mail list. Tozeski herself continued her work from over the summer, which was in the campaign's Washington headquarters.

The Kerry campaign, like most political campaigns, is comprised of two castes of supporters. Advisers help with strategy and political advertisements. If the campaign is a success, advisers often ride a candidate's coattails into government appointments. The field organization, Tozeski's arena, is the campaign equivalent to the infantry. Composed of mostly young people, its grunt work is in raising money and drumming up support through publicity.

"At the convention, I was part of visibility; the last night I made 27,000 fliers," Tozeski said.

She said she was impressed with the outreach to young voters.

"College students everywhere were engaged, ready to go home and be active," Tozeski said. "I definitely want to do political work after graduation no matter which way the election goes."

Another Brandeis student at the convention was Dan Musicante '06. He worked for Grassroots Campgain, an organization contracted out by the Democratic national Convention to fundraise for the event. Musicante began as a canvasser and advanced to field manager, leading a team of five canvassers in door-to-door fundraising. Five days a week, he and fellow field managers met at noon to plan that day's route; then the team knocked on doors and collected money from 3 to 9 p.m.

Musicante said that his office brought in over $50,000 each week.

At the convention, he helped with security and events like pro-rallies and parties for delegates. He had done previous volunteer political work, but this was his first paying job involving politics. He said that now he plans to be more active on campus this year.

"I'm a member of Students for Kerry, but I'm going to be more active and the job made me more interested in questioning my major, which is currently psychology," he said.

In the beginning of August, Musicante was talking with friends about demonstrating at the Republican National Convention. In the end, he was unable to find co-protesters, and he remained in Waltham for the start of classes. He does want to organize a group to travel to political rallies in Maine this fall.

Michael Hellmann '06 also plans on being much more involved in Brandeis Students for Kerry than he was before his summer internship in Washington. Hellmann has a unique perspective, however, since he interned for Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., a politician with different viewpoints than his own.

"I applied to a lot of different congressmen originally and got accepted to three," Hellmann said. "Fitzgerald was one of them and he's my senator."

He said he tried to keep the fact that he is a Democrat quiet and was fairly certain the senator was unaware of this quality.

"I disagreed with a lot of his points," Hellmann said. "But no one really asked me about it because I think they assumed I was Republican. Someone asked at the very end of the summer and I said I was Democratic."

Hellmann said his Democratic affiliation was not really a problem and that all of his co-workers were very professional. He plans to remain in contact with the office. Like some of the other interns, he said his taste of Washington this summer was enough to entice him for the next.

Hellman had his share of celebrity encounters.

"I saw Joe Lieberman all the time and I wished him Good Shabbas and he thought I was really cool," Hellman said.

Another time, he bumped into Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., while rushing out of an elevator. "I didn't realize it was him right away and I almost knocked him over. I was quite embarrassed, but he was really nice about it."

Also in line with other Brandeis interns, Hellmann's responsibilities included giving Capitol tours, conducting research for legislative aides and answering constituents' calls and mail.

The tour guides may seem all-knowing, but Hellman said that interns only shadowed one tour before leading groups on their own. "I would run up to statues and read the descriptions back to the crowd before I got better," Hellman said.

Hellmann has done some local volunteering since returning home from Washington, in his case for Barack Obama, an Illinois state senator running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate.

Unlike Hellman, Guillaume Buell '06 identifies as a Republican. Since April, he has worked as the campaign manager for Bob Finneran, a candidate for the Massachusetts state legislature. Buell is also the Brandeis spokesperson for Bush-Cheney '04, meaning that he is the official representative of the president's reelection campaign on campus. If Brandeis staged a mock presidential debate, Buell would speak on behalf of Bush. Buell also coordinates students who are interested in being part of the campaign.

"I enjoy the challenge of supporting the president," he said about being a vocal Republican on campus.

He wanted to attend the Republican National Convention this week, but said that the start of classes interfered. He does not know of any Brandeis students attending.

He said his job takes priority. Finneran's district is 40 minutes from Brandeis, and Buell plans to travel there on weekends. About the time commitment, he said: "You make it work because you care enough about the re-election to fit it in."

On his future, Buell said, "I plan to go to law school and then run for president."

While the Oval Office may not be each intern's goal, each was happy with his or her experience and motivated to become more involved politically.

"Although I disagreed with many of the positions held by the majority of the other staff and interns, I found interning for Sen. Fitzgerald to be a rewarding and fun experience," Hellmann said.

"I learned a lot about the political process and the way American politics work, and this internship has inspired me to continue to be an active participant in the political process.