Tanika Raychaudhuri, a lifelong resident of West Windsor, served as an intern in U.S. Representative Rush Holt’s congressional office in Washington, D.C., this summer. She served from June to August. During the summer of 2011, she interned in Holt’s district office in West Windsor.
Raychaudhuri, a 2010 graduate of High School South, is a rising junior majoring in political science and anthropology at the University of Michigan. Her primary academic interests are in American government and politics.
“I enjoyed interning with Representative Holt in Washington, D.C., this summer and working on Capitol Hill was a unique learning experience,” says Raychaudhuri. “As a political science student, it was very exciting to observe Congress firsthand. Over the course of my internship I attended briefings, gave tours of the Capitol to constituents, and learned about the mail process in Rep. Holt’s office.”
Raychaudhuri also writes for student publications including the Michigan Journal of International Affairs and SHEI, a fashion and lifestyle magazine (www.sheimagazine.com). At school Raychaudhuri received the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize in 2011 and was acknowledged as a James B. Angell Scholar in 2012.
“I think that my internship was particularly interesting because Rep. Holt and his staff got to know the interns and gave us opportunities to work on issues we were interested in,” says Raychaudhuri. “I also had the opportunity to research healthcare, the legislative issue I am most interested in, under the supervision of Dr. Kim Montgomery, the legislative assistant who works on healthcare.”
Raychaudhuri’s father, Dipankar, is a professor at Rutgers University, where he directs a research center called WINLAB (Wireless Information Network Laboratory). Her mother, Aru, is a professor of mathematics at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Her brother, Mayukh, a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School and the University of Michigan, is a lawyer. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Meghan.
“It has been a pleasure to welcome these outstanding interns to my staff,” Holt said. “As a former educator, I am deeply impressed by their intelligence, willingness to learn, and commitment to public service. They have served the people of central New Jersey with distinction.”
Congressional interns are selected on a competitive basis and contribute in a variety of ways to Holt’s service to central New Jersey, including aiding in legislative research, attending congressional hearings, conducting community outreach, and helping with office administrative duties. High school and college students who are interested in interning in future sessions are encouraged to visit https://holt.house.gov/ to learn more.
