Staff Assistant Alexandra Igleheart and Legislative Director Michael Seeds work in the office of Rep. Mac Thornberry.
After graduation, Seeds decided to explore what D.C. had to offer. “There was a whole world I didn’t know existed,” Seeds said. “You have that sense of freedom like, ‘I could go anywhere right now.’”
He ended up securing an internship with Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) in November 2005. Seeds was then hired by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), where he stayed on for two years as staff assistant and then as legislative correspondent.
But perhaps the best thing that Seeds found on the Hill was his wife, Amber. The two were waiting in a busy line at the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria and had a brief moment to chat. He was so smitten with her that he immediately went back to his office and found her e-mail address so he could ask her on a date.
“When I got back up to my office, I realized I was still carrying the tray in my hand,” Seeds said with a laugh.
Igleheart, 23, started in January after completing an internship with Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) in 2010. The Texas native graduated from Southern Methodist University, where she earned a degree in finance but quickly realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do for a living.
The turning point came when Igleheart visited a family friend who works on the Hill. Seeing people run around offices and make calls to Senators and Congressmen inspired Igleheart to pursue a career path in government. And seeing the chaos that sometimes ensues didn’t hurt, either.
“There was a tea party protest on one side of the Capitol and an immigration protest on the other,” she said. “That’s the exciting atmosphere that I was looking for.”
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Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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