Abby Kepplin ’23 learns communications ropes in congressional internship
Abby Kepplin spent her summer applying communications lessons she’s learned in the classroom to her congressional internship with U.S. Rep. Don Bacon.
For two-and-a-half months, Kepplin, a junior who is majoring in marketing and minoring in communications, worked in Bacon’s Omaha district office, where she wrote floor speeches, drafted letters to constituents, learned how to conduct briefings and developed newsletters, in addition to creating and publishing content for social media.
“I was originally a communications major, so this internship allowed me to see if congressional office or politics was something I wanted to do in the future and to see what a role in communications really looks like,” Kepplin said. “Politics wasn’t on my radar, but now I know what it could be like. Having experiences like this is really important to see what you want to do in your future.”
Bacon, who represents Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, spent a lot of time in the Omaha office, Kepplin, who is from Omaha, said, where he made himself available to his staff—interns included—as a way to collaborate and ensure his constituents could reach him.
“I was able to meet him and we had an intern day, where the interns had lunch with him, that was a pretty cool experience,” she said. “Every time he was in the office, he made sure to say hello.”
One highlight for Kepplin, a member of Concordia’s shooting sports team, was shooting a round of trap with Bacon after an event at her local shooting range.
“It was a lot of fun to be able to spend some time with him in my element,” she said.
Through her internship, Kepplin said she enjoyed developing content and graphics for Bacon’s social media accounts, something she can see herself doing as part of her future career.
“It was a unique opportunity to try new things on different platforms and learn more about the business side of social media instead of my own Instagram posts,” she said.
With her academics, shooting sports and other commitments during the school year, Kepplin said she’s looking at next summer for her next internship—hopefully in the real estate field—because she’s interested in the sales and marketing aspect of the industry.
“I’ve been able to shadow a couple of realtors in the past and I like how that role is dependent on making connections with others while helping them find their future house,” she said.
