Hannah Walton is still a little unsure about what she wants to pursue after college. As a sophomore, that’s perfectly understandable. Teaching, most likely, politics, maybe.

However, this past summer, she took a major step towards the latter, while also helping in the former. Walton spent time this summer with the Sorensen Institute at the University of Virginia. The prestigious program for college students opened its doors this summer for non-UVa students and Walton, a sophomore at Averett from Danville, took advantage of the opportunity.

A history major working towards a teaching license, Walton is trying to decide if she wants to add a double major in political science. A conversation with her advisor, Andrew Canady, led her to explore Sorensen. She soon realized this was an opportunity she couldn’t resist.

“I was in class and my advisor, Andrew Canady, gave me the schedule for the program and told me to look over the information and that if I was interested, he would recommend me for the Sorensen Institute,” Walton said. “I looked over the information and it was very interesting. It was on the Governorship in Virginia and I knew I would be taking a State and Local government class here at Averett.”

The Sorensen Institute started in 2020, as a result of the pandemic. All the seniors at Virginia had internships lined up and then COVID hit. They weren’t able to complete the internships needed for graduation, so a large group of political science centers came up with an online internship that would allow these students the same connections they would get during a normal internship. Following the pandemic, the Sorensen Institute continued on. The previous two years had been completely UVa students and this past summer, they offered the Institute to students from other schools in the State of Virginia.

“Hannah Walton is a hardworking, determined and excellent student who proactively looks for opportunities to expand her education,” Canady said. “As her advisor she came to me last year to discuss possible summer internship programs applicable to her interests that might arise. When I became aware of the opportunity at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, I enthusiastically recommended her.

“This experience put her in touch with other outstanding undergraduates in Virginia and noted scholars and political leaders, widening her view of this state’s political history. Not only will this internship aid her in future American history and Political Science courses in her remaining time at Averett, but it will give her valuable knowledge as she goes on to become an educator in the secondary public schools of Virginia.”

“At the beginning of the program, we all exchanged our emails and contact information so we could stay in contact,” Walton continued. “At the end of the program, we all got to go to Charlottesville and meet each other. We got to meet other people within the Sorensen program, which was really nice.”

The program allowed Walton to continue her studies and learn more about what is available. She found many fascinating subjects at her disposal and got a better idea of what her future may hold. The program was very flexible and Hannah actually began the program on a beach vacation. She worked with the program director to make sure she was able to begin and complete the online program.

“Before the program began, I was interested in politics, but I do not want to go to law school,” Walton said. “Being in this program was very eye-opening to the fact that you don’t have to go to law school become involved in politics. I met a lot of people who did want to go to law school, but there were others, like me, that just wanted to dip their toes in the water and see what they wanted to do. I still do not want to go to law school. This program definitely opened my eyes to other possibilities.”

As a student in the Institute, Walton had the opportunity to speak with former governors and people involved in the highest levels of government in the Commonwealth.

“The program was so interesting because I got to meet former governors” Walton added. “We got to have one-on-one conversations with them. We got to talk to Tim Kaine, we got to talk to Bob McDonnell and we got to talk to people who work for Governor Youngkin, because he’s really busy right now.

“Along to speaking to Tim Kaine, we got to speak with his wife, Anne Holton. We talked about her father, Linwood Holton, who was governor back in the 70s. We not only spoke with her about Tim Kaine being Governor, but also her father and his campaign.”

Walton understands that Sorensen is a great resume builder and there will be on-going benefits to this program. She says the Institute attempts to have the students meet once a year and build networking opportunities.

In politics, networking is very important. The Sorensen Institute provided Walton an excellent way to start that baseline builder of networking.