Student Spotlight - Willie Sizemore

Willie Sizemore is currently a junior in the Agricultural, Leadership, Education and Communication Department pursuing his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Communication. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee co-sponsor a 12-week internship for a CAES student, which Mr. Willie Sizemore was selectively chosen for. Willie has spent his spring semester working as an intern for Senator and Chairman of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee John Wilkinson at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.

Through this extraordinary experience, Willie has gained different perspectives on the agriculture industry and has been able to see the impacts of Georgia legislators’ day-to-day decision making on agriculture and communities throughout the state.

“The opportunity to work at the Capitol has allowed me to truly understand the legislative process, and the work done by our government intrigued me. This experience gave faith in our system and in our state,” Willie said.

While working at the Capitol, Willie did not necessarily have a set day-to-day schedule, rather he took things as they came and served wherever Wilkinson needed him. As a part of this internship, Sizemore set up group meetings from Senator Wilkinson’s district and was in charge of making sure these meetings ran smoothly and all participants were accommodated. Willie also received original copies of legislation to get sponsor signatures and researched legislation that Senator Wilkinson was carrying or bills coming through the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.

Willie has provided insight on the importance his coursework was to his time spent on Wilkinson’s team. “I have been able to communicate more professionally via email and in person because of the skills I have learned through the coursework in my major.”

As we have seen over the past couple of months, COVID-19 has dramatically shifted the world, and it was no different for Willie. Willie was forced to leave his internship two weeks early but still had the ability to work from home and continue to learn from Wilkinson.

In the future, Willie plans to pursue a law degree from the University of Georgia and eventually move back to South Georgia to work as a lawyer in a firm with his sister, Tessa, and his father, Jamie.

To learn more about this internship, visit the CAES Georgia Legislative Internship page.

By Mary Logan Tostenson