Intern’s advice: ‘Don’t take it so seriously’

Katherine Ranft is the type of intern who comes to work on her day off.

As the school year draws to a close, the spring semester’s batch of interns on the Hill are getting ready to board planes and hop in cars headed for home. Ranft, too, is scheduled to return home to Minnesota Friday after spending the past three months as an intern to Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).

Originally from St. Paul, Minn., the 20-year-old Ranft is an economics major at the Jesuit Marquette University in Milwaukee.

She has no precise future plans, but she’s excited about the mystery. “My only plan is to not have a plan,” she said.

For now, she’s toying with the idea of taking a year off of school after graduation, like the congressman did. One possibility for Ranft is to become a scuba instructor.

Ranft loves D.C. and enjoys politics but takes it in small doses. At her school’s housing, which is blocks from the Capitol, she and 18 other students would argue politics all week long. It got to be too much at times.

“I definitely know a lot more and care a lot more about politics because I’m so much more immersed here,” she said. “But it’s almost too easy to get sucked into politics.”

Ranft had regular intern tasks such as answering constituent mail. But she also put together a comprehensive binder on the Colombia free trade agreement.

Ranft is part of the Very Special Arts group, which aims to help disabled people through dance, musical and theatric performances. This summer she hopes to learn sign language as part of her work with the group.

Her advice for the summer’s incoming batch of interns?

“Don’t take it so seriously,” she said. “When I first got here, I was really nervous and kept asking people’s opinions.”

“That’s because she kept making mistakes,” a Kind staffer yelled jokingly from the other room.

It’s apparent she will be missed.