Major: Environmental Sciences and Management

• Internship: General Services Administration
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/pavan-gill-2233161b2

 Tell us about your internship – what kind of work did you do? What did you find rewarding?

I interned at GSA which is a government agency that delivers effective and efficient government services to the American people. I was working in the Federal Acquisition Service in the Strategic Planning and Business Management office. I worked on a few projects like conducting a financial projection of the different travel programs we run and I work along side another intern to create the quarterly newsletter. I was also able to sit in on meetings with industry partners and learn how they were pushing for more sustainability and ways that we as an agency could help them meet their net zero carbon goals. I found that working for a government agency overall is very rewarding. You are working to advance the goals set by the Administration and throughout my internship I was able to see the impact that my work was having on the American people.

Have your career or life goals changed as a result of your internship? If so, how? 

I think they have a changed a bit or at least gave me more perspective on what I want to do in the future. My internship continues on for the school year and at the end of it there's a possibility of getting converted over to full-time. I can see myself working at GSA before pursing my Master's in some discipline.

Share an exciting memory from your internship – something unexpected, an accomplishment, someone you met. 

An exciting memory from my internship was meeting with my Director and him asking me why UC Davis tried to change their mascot to a cow. I was shocked that he knew about UCD since in my previous calls with my team no one really much about California.

Did your internship lead to any opportunities?

In my internship, I had opportunities to meet so many different people that worked at different agencies like FBI, DOD, USDA, DOT, and others. It was interesting to hear them talk about the work they do and learn how each of the agencies help support each other.

Share a story about something special you did in Washington – an event you attended, a place you went, an exciting talk, etc. 

Something special I did in Washington was go to this speaker series event called Free the Facts. It was held at the Portrait Gallery and you got to listen to subject matter expert talk for an hour and get free food. It was cool to be able to network with people that are around your age at the event.

How has living in the nation's capital for a quarter changed you?

Living in the nation's capital has changed me because it opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for post-grad. It was almost like a preview of what life in D.C. could entail. I learned so much about the city and it's history and can definitely see myself living there in the future.

Do you have any advice for future UCDC students?

Try to go out and explore as much as you can. The 10 weeks go by really fast. I recommend following some of the D.C. accounts on TikTok or Instagram to get updates on new things happening over the weekend.