Anup Engineer, a double major in business administration and environmental technology, was just recently chosen to be among the few individuals selected for the prestigious White House Internship Program, specifically with the Office of Presidential Correspondence.

Engineer, who has previously interned at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and NASA, says he is very excited to have been chosen for the program and is ready to start his duties at his new White House position in an attempt to have a positive impact on the United States population.

Engineer said the White House Internship Program is fantastic.

“Beyond [my] primary responsibilities, the structure of the program gives [me] the opportunity to interact with different departments within the White House. It has a strong community service aspect to it as well, which I find appealing,” Engineer said.

He also elaborated on his job description as an intern, explaining that he works “in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. Throughout the day there are myriad tasks that come up — they can range from doing research to helping assemble a weekly digest. My office tries to understand what is on the minds of the American people. At the same time we try to inform constituents about where the administration stands on issues. It’s really fulfilling work and it is easy to go home at night and feel good about what you are doing.”

This ability to have such a positive impact on the lives of Americans is what made the prestigious internship program and public service at the federal level so appealing to Engineer.

“I spent the first five months of 2010 interning at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and my great experiences there as well as my prior government co-ops and internships at NASA have pushed me to continue to focus my efforts in Federal Government work,” Engineer said.

Engineer’s dedication to public service and the United States is so profound that after completing the multiple public service internships he has thus far, he plans on joining the military.

“Right now I’m planning on going into military service after this internship is over and while the work I do right now isn’t directly related to our defense efforts, it has helped me put the role of defense and security in our country into perspective,” Engineer said.

Engineer also offered some advice to freshmen concerning their majors, explaining “for anyone at the University that is thinking about majors, I highly recommend [business administration and environmental technology] – but more generally I recommend exploring STEM topics – having a background in science, technology, engineering and mathematics goes a long way no matter where you end up — especially in today’s day and age.”

Kaaenaat Mustafa, a junior in business administration, heard of Engineer’s acceptance into the internship program from one of her friends and said she was proud to hear that a student from N.C. State was bestowed such an honor.

“Most people usually expect honors of this magnitude to be presented to Ivy League students, but knowing one of our own classmates received it is very exciting to know and makes you proud to be a member of the Wolfpack family,” Mustafa said.

Zain Akhter, a junior in mechanical engineering, also heard about Engineer’s acceptance.

“Having someone from State holding a position at such a high level in the federal government really puts us on the map and makes N.C. State more visible within the U.S.,” Akhter said.