KINGSVILLE (Oct. 3, 2025) — As a senior political science major at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Leeya Flores admits that she has major career goals that begin with getting into law school to getting involved in high-stakes politics and maybe even dabbling in political commentary — eventually.
“Political commentator is far down the line — I want to be older when I do that,” said Flores, a Bishop native. “I have lofty goals, but I am going to go to law school. After that, I want to pass the bar, practice law and be an environmental attorney focusing on energy law. I want to eventually get into politics and run for office. I probably would like to be a representative for my district. Then, my final goal, is President of the United States. Lofty goals, but I can do it.”
After setting her sights on where she wants to go following her undergrad, Flores took a major step recently by spending her spring semester in Washington D.C. after being selected as part of the initial cohort to participate in the D.C. Internship Program through the Texas A&M University System Public Policy Scholars Program (PPSP).
While A&M System students get to attend classes and worked on projects related to their fields at the Bush School D.C., the program helps place in public policy internships and offers hands-on experiences that will help them understand the role policy plays in various industries.
Flores’ spring classes focused on foreign and domestic policy, where she worked on two projects, including one about Artificial Intelligence being used in K-12 for non-administrative tasks.
As the classes started, Flores said she felt her background as a Political Science major and a McNair Scholar helped her quickly adapt.
“I was used to how classes were structured — being very discussion-based,” Flores said. “There was never a right or wrong answer as they were situations that already happened and we tried to reflect on what could have been done better. So, I didn’t struggle with the content because of McNair and I focused more on the policy, while others focused on science.
“The class had components I was used to, but I did learn a lot about foreign policy, which was not something I was very strong in,” Flores added.
For the internship portion of the semester, Flores secured a position with the office Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) in the Longworth House Office Building.
Flores was tasked with giving tours of capital buildings and would eventually work on the press side of things.
“I did a lot of press stuff, worked on stuff for (Gonzalez’s) Instagram and even helped write a speech for him,” Flores said. “I would go with him on different interviews in the capital and did legislative research. They didn’t know I cared a lot about water policy, so the agriculture staffer asked me to help with research. I researched deep sea mining modules and attended a Colorado River briefing. I learned a lot.”
While the education side of things was a tall task, the semester away also became a big test personally for Flores, as she needed to adapt to her new temporary surroundings.
“It was definitely a little hard to be away from home because I had never been out of Texas before and then on a plane,” Flores said. “It was my first time doing that and then I had new experiences with roommates that I’ve never met who are from all different areas, but I had a lot of fun experiences. It was also fun to use public transportation; I’ve never done that before. I got to go to museums, try new foods. It was cool to try a lot of different things in every part of my life.”
“I also learned a lot about searching for connections everywhere you go,” Flores added. “I think that is so important. We’re told at every internship that I’ve had that you really need to find the people that you’re going to be able to come back to and ask questions because there will always be someone who wants to help you.”
-TAMUK-