Eleven Baruch College students have been selected for The New York State Legislative Internship program, where students will spend their spring 2023 semester in Albany.

The internship program gives 150 students hands-on experience in how governmental affairs work in tandem with the legislative process.

At the end of the program, 30 students will be put into offices overseeing New York City districts. Of the 11 students at Baruch College who were accepted, nine are pursing a bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, while the remaining two come from the department of political science at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences.

The New York State Senate awards the 30 selected students with a $7,500 stipend, according to an article published by Baruch Press.

Peter Balluffi-Fry, Mateo Colon, Mariva Gebura, Areba Ghafoor, Neil Jimenez, Staci Seinfe and Harris Semertzidis were selected to be New York State Senate Assistants.

Kemara Gopeesingh, Delali Kisiedu, Peter Tzotchev and Jenny Zheng were selected for the New York State Assembly Internship program.

Jimenez said the program “demystifies government,” and that it taught him that many people work behind the scenes on legislation.

“People must acknowledge that senators and assembly members are not gods,” Jimenez said. “They do not write legislation most of the time and are more of a district representative. The people who have the most influence and that we should listen to are local community groups or advocacy groups because of how organized they are.”

According to the New York State Assembly, interns are required to complete an orientation, a work/learning contract, evaluations and academic courses that prepare students for when they are placed into their internship positions.

There are four courses that must be taken in the internship, where one can only be taken per cycle. A cycle is considered three to four weeks long, and courses consist of subjects on democracy, public policy, policy analysis and the change of politics in New York state.

Applicants will be required to attend all classes, workshops and mock hearings and are expected to score well on quizzes, write two short papers and write a final research paper amounting to a minimum of 15 pages.

To be eligible, students must be a full-time junior or senior. Students of any major can apply.

“It is a great opportunity to get hands-on experience with the whole process and really venture out of your comfort zone in a sense,” Jimenez said.