Page 28 - Priorities #53 2012-June/July

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Priory Alum, Julia Duncan, lands in the
JJulia Duncan ‘05 remembers the first day of Dora Marron’s civics class in the 8th grade. Ms. Marron gave the class the United States Citizenship Test, and then led a discussion about what it means to be a citizen of the US. “This class was my introduction to government and the importance of civic participation,” says Duncan.
It was a powerful introduction.
Today, Duncan is a Staff Assistant to the
Presidential Personnel Office at the White
is to do research, event planning, and scheduling for the office, as well as to help coordinate the interview process for political appointees, White House liaisons, and department staff.
But Duncan didn’t go straight from that Priory civics class to working for the President. While at Priory, she put her toe in the political water while serving on Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s Student Advisory Board. After graduation, she took various internships in politics that helped pave that road, the first of which was in 2006. While on summer break from the University of Virginia, she flew home to the West coast to take an internship in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in San Francisco.
Though her duties at the Senator’s office were simple—she answered phones, sorted mail, and perfected her front office greeting skills—they prepped her for what was to come. “These skills would prove helpful when I moved to Washington in search of a job on Capitol Hill,” she says.
The following year, she boarded a plane to Chicago to be a summer intern on then Senator Barack Obama’s presidential
campaign. This was a tremendously influential experience for Duncan. The summer started with a training session called “Camp Obama”, she says, which taught participants about the presidential hopeful, as well as educated them on election strategies and grassroots organizing.
The following year, she returned to Obama’s campaign as an intern during the general election. After the president’s victory, she was offered a job working on the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) in Washington, DC, where she helped to organize the National Day of Service—an event that took place the day before the President’s Inauguration.
Duncan graduated from UVA in 2009, and soon began working for Congressman Phil Hare in Washington, DC, first as an intern and later as a Staff Assistant. While
by Karen Macklin
Director in the House. Her job