Driven by a passion for politics and public service, Sunvy Yalamarthy, CLA ‘23, has made a habit of seizing opportunity. His willingness to show up whenever an open door presents itself has already landed him in the middle of numerous local and national campaigns. That’s why it’s no surprise that when the chance to intern at the White House sprung up, Yalamarthy made sure to capitalize—no pun intended—on it.

This past December, Yalamarthy completed a three-month internship in the Office of Correspondence for the Vice President. The correspondence office facilitates communication between the general public and the Vice President, serving to amplify the voice of the American people. 

“[Vice President Harris] had a big emphasis on correspondence,” says Yalamarthy. “I would log mail, assist in preparing responses to letters and if people needed help from an agency, we would direct them to the right avenues for that. We also had the opportunity to meet administration officials and attend workshops.”  

The biggest takeaway for Yalamarthy, though, was getting a glimpse at the care and dedication that went into everyone’s work in the White House. He notes a strong emphasis on “intentionality” among White House staff—always being intentional and authentic in every task and interaction.

“That building has some of the smartest people in the world in it, and they’re not there because of money or prestige, they’re there because they really do want to make a difference,” says Yalamarthy. “Even tasks that could seem menial or boring were never treated that way—everyone in there was a public servant who truly wanted to help.” 

Yalamarthy’s own public service aspirations first took shape in his junior year of high school. There, he started his school’s Young Democrats chapter and began getting his hands dirty in the world of politics. “I think what helped me was that, at that time in America, young people were learning,” says Yalamarthy. “Everyone was talking, but not everyone was working towards something. A few of my peers and I were like, ‘Let’s go knock on doors. Let’s actually organize. Let’s try to do something, instead of just talking.’” 

By the time he came to Temple as a political science and psychology major, he was already building up experience on actual campaigns. “I was so involved with my work, and of course I prioritized school,” says Yalamarthy, “but at first, for some reason, I was slow to connect the two.” It wasn’t long before he realized his coursework was mirroring and expanding on what he was seeing in the field. He says, “I remember we were doing stats and computation (in a course with Professor David Nickerson), and it began to click with me, this is what I’ve been doing in the field with voter data.” 

Yalamarthy recognizes the benefits of his interdisciplinary studies and hopes to do more work in the future at the cross-section of mental health and public service. He is effusive about the support received as a student in the Psychology Honors Program, even as his career outlook began to veer more and more toward politics. He says, “Professor Hirsh-Pasek, or Kathy, as she made us call her, was always asking how my [White House] application was going and if there was any way she could help.” 

At the beginning of his senior year at Temple, Yalamarthy met Sean Murphy. As the internship and program coordinator for the Political Science department, Murphy’s role is to help students secure internships in public service. They had been discussing possible future steps when the idea came up. “That December, I finally decided I wanted to try for the White House internship,” says Yalamarthy. 

The two made a game plan and began preparing to apply for the fall internship. Murphy helped review and revise the applicational materials and, eventually, coached Yalamarthy through the long interview process. 

“I completed the application in March. Then Sean went over everything, and we made lots and lots of edits, trying to get it as strong as it could be,” says Yalamarthy. “It was radio silent after that until I heard back in May and had my first interview.” 

Interviews continued through the summer. Finally, on September 8th, Yalamarthy received word that he’d been accepted into the program. There was one problem: his first day was on September 11th, only three days later. 

“It was just one of those things. Friday morning they say I’m in, and I’m like, ‘I just have to make this work.’” recalls Yalamarthy of his abrupt move from his hometown in Pittsburgh to Washington. “You can’t turn down something like that, you know?” 

Showing up and making it work has always served Sunvy well. His work with the Young Democrats in high school led to his first campaign internship and volunteer work. After enrolling at Temple and moving to Philadelphia, he received a call from a former colleague on that campaign asking him to come work at Biden headquarters ahead of the 2020 Presidential election. Yalamarthy’s commitment and expanding network would eventually lead to work for State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta and recent mayoral candidate Jeff Brown.

Even before pursuing the White House internship, Yalamarthy had already built the early foundations of a career by consistently stepping up and developing strong connections. It seems like that trajectory will continue—since graduating and completing the internship, Yalamarthy has accepted a position as a Biden Harris Political Appointee serving as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff to the Administrator at NASA.

“I was always told to take advantage of any opportunity you can,” says Yalamarthy. “Whether it was the Biden campaign or the State House race, Malcolm Kenyatta’s campaign or even the White House—it was always ‘any opportunity you get, you don’t say no.’ 

“Everything else before that was just word of mouth, doing good work, just putting myself out there. And that's something that I'm going to continue as I meet more people and I see what I can do. That's what I've been practicing—when things come up, go get them.”