Launch the media gallery 1 playerBurwell Alum Serving As Intern to Nebraska Senator
May 20, 2021
Weston Svoboda, a 2019 graduate of Burwell Jr. Sr. High School and a student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, is gaining valuable experience as a summer intern for Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Senator Fischer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and is currently fulfilling her second term in office. She is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security. Fischer's membership on the Senate Agriculture Committee was an important part of Svoboda's decision to apply for an internship with her office. According to her website, Fischer is a Nebraska cattle rancher with over 40 years of real-life experience working with agriculture producers and rural and economic development groups across the state. Agriculture is a very important part of Weston's life and he stated that, "I applied for this internship because I saw it as a great learning and networking opportunity. Senator Fischer is a fellow member of the agricultural community who has a passion for making sure the voices of Nebraskans are heard. I enjoy learning from her and her staff. The skills and connections made this summer will help prepare me for my future endeavors of ensuring Nebraskan's, and specifically our agriculturalists, have a voice at any table where major decisions are being made."
Weston was selected as a summer intern after a lengthy application and interview process. He typically works in the Russell Senate Building where Senator Fischer's offices reside. He said that he has an apartment in Washington D.C. that is about a 20 minute walk to work. Weston states that, "the city is quite different from our town (Burwell), however, it has taught me valuable lessons about being able to advocate and share about rural small town life with those who come from an urban setting." He will work in this intern capacity from May 7th through August 13th this summer and commented that he won't be able to make any trips home because so much happens in the Senate offices on a daily basis that he doesn't want to miss anything. Weston is disappointed that he will miss the 100th anniversary of Nebraska's Big Rodeo in Burwell in July, but said that, "great opportunity often calls for sacrifice."
Weston also commented that the best part of his internship so far has been the contacts that he has made. "It's incredible to see such influential figures on a daily basis. People you always see on TV or in the news I see on a daily basis up close (Ted Cruz said a few words to me and I about fainted)," he said. Svoboda won't be slowing down when his internship duties expire as he is currently serving as the President of the Nebraska Collegiate Farm Bureau, is serving as Vice President of the Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity at UNL, and will be joining the UNL Livestock Judging Team in the Fall. He is also a member of the Young Nebraska Cattlemen and the UNL Ag Economics Club as is a past State Officer of Nebraska FFA. Burwell Public Schools is proud of Weston's accomplishments and wishes him a fulfilling summer!
