FSC Internship Offers an Albany Adventure

May 18, 2020

Simran Mohan and Gerasimos Arsenis

How would you like to spend a semester in Albany, earning a stipend and acquiring real-world experience working for a member of the NYS Senate or Assembly?

Sound like a real opportunity? It should, because not all internships at FSC combine the three elements available with the NYS Assembly Session Internship, and the NYS Senate Undergraduate Legislative Session Assistants Internship.

Just ask Simran Mohan ’21 (Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement Technology) and Gerasimos Arsenis ’20 (Business Management), who worked and studied in Albany until March, when the pandemic hit New York.

“At the internship orientation, Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan explained that we were more than just interns. We were part of the staff,” says Arsenis. “Our goal is to help the office and serve the district.

“We were required to draft a bill, which would be debated in a mock legislative session at the end of the internship. My time in Albany was extraordinary.”

Says Mohan, a RAM scholar who also has also done a Criminal Justice internship: “I found the academic portion of the program to be exceedingly informative. Each week at the seminar we were able to meet with someone in a different field of work, which gave us a chance to learn about their experience and ask questions. The experience was very rewarding.”

Arsenis was assigned to State Senator Thomas O’Mara of the 58th Senate District, which encompasses counties from the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. Mohan worked for State Senator Kevin Thomas, from the 6th District, which includes parts of Nassau County.

In addition to time spent at Senate and Assembly offices, interns must complete an academic component with on-site instructors and the FSC campus faculty liaison. Mohan and Arsenis are now completing research papers and self-reflection reports.

Information sessions about this internship have been scheduled for the fall semester. In the meantime, contact the Nexus Center, or email the campus faculty liaison.