Hi! My name is Kevin Schmidek, I’m a Third-Year Student at American University in Washington, D.C. I’m studying Political Science with a specialization in American Government in the School of Public Affairs, Business Administration with a specialization in Real Estate in the Kogod School of Business, and Advanced Leadership Studies in the SPA Leadership Program. I am originally from Los Altos, California, where I attended Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA, and always had aspirations of attending college in D.C. in order to study politics in the best place for it in the country. I am passionate about education reform, voting rights, and putting an end to systemic injustice in our legal and social institutions.
Here at AU, I am a First-Year Teaching Assistant for the Leadership Program, where I mentor and assist a group of first-year students as they navigate the transition to college and begin their work in the Program. I’m also a Program Leader for the Complex Problems Seminar Program, where I work collaboratively with a professor to design class curriculum, plan and lead co-curricular activities to promote learning outside of the classroom, and act as a peer resource for the students in our seminar.
Outside of school, I have worked as a Development Intern at Berger-Hirschberg Strategies, a political and nonprofit consulting and fundraising firm, and I have worked as an intern on the Political Affairs Team at The Borgen Project, a national nonprofit organization that works to make combating global poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy. I take time when I am not working or studying to read, swim, spend time with friends, or participate in the Catholic community at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I am so excited to be in D.C. and try to impact change here in our nation’s capital, and I am looking forward to continuing my studies in hopes of pursuing a career in residential and/or commercial real estate.