Vince Chamblee, a senior economics and public policy leadership major from Fulton, and Megan Smith, a senior journalism and political science major from Long Beach, studied for five weeks at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland last spring before interning for 10 weeks with Scottish Parliament as part of the Ole Miss Study Abroad program. Both students, who are members of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, also completed extensive research projects: one on small business tax policy and the other on the economic viability of alternative energy.

The national internships are highly competitive and generally offered to no more than 20 students a semester, but Chamblee and Smith were two of only 15 accepted into the program last spring. Almost every other student accepted represented a university in the northeastern U.S., including Johns Hopkins University and the universities and Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, Smith said.

"We were the only two from the South," she said. "To get to hang out with a bunch of people from the Northeast and hear their different views and the different ways they were raised was an interesting experience. I really liked the diversity of the group we had."

UM honors students Vince Chamblee of Fulton and Megan Smith of Long Beach gained valuable experience as they helped shape public policy in Scotland during their internships with the Scottish Parliament. UM photo by Ryan Whittington.

At the University of Edinburgh, Chamblee and Smith took three classes, which gave them a foundation in Scottish culture, history and politics, as well as government and politics in the United Kingdom. They received six hours of credit for the internship.

After finishing their coursework, Chamblee and Smith began working with members of Scottish Parliament. Smith worked for Scottish National Party member Bob Doris, who represents Glasgow, and Chamblee worked for Rob Gibson and Dave Thompson, Scottish National Party representatives for the Highlands and Islands.

"Because Scottish Parliament is a lot smaller, you got to do legitimate jobs," Smith said. "I actually helped Doris write some of his speeches, wrote a couple of press releases for him and helped do a lot of research for him on bills he was proposing or working on. As time progressed and I built a relationship with him, he allowed me to do more."

Chamblee enjoyed similar freedoms during his internship.

"The first thing I did when I came to the office was a political brief for a debate the next week with the Scottish Housing Association and the government provision of housing versus the private sector's provisional policy," Chamblee said. "I had to provide a brief for him on the issues that would be covered in that discussion. There was an element of personal accountability, because as I listened to him debate, I knew I was responsible for the information he knew. If he didn't field a question very well, I felt personally responsible."

Chamblee said he was surprised by the degree of involvement he was given in making important decisions for Scottish Parliament.

"We were allowed to communicate the ideas of a high member of Parliament to newspapers across Scotland. It was pretty important, what we wrote," he said. "It was a pretty heavy responsibility. Not only did you communicate the story, you actually composed the quotes on behalf of the Parliament member."

Chamblee's final project involved the technical and economic viability for a conversion to wind energy as a primary source of energy in Scotland, while Smith's involved investigating the effects of taxation on small businesses throughout the country.

Chamblee's project examined technical aspects and physics of wind energy, as well as the economic implications for a large-scale conversion to wind energy.

"The north of Scotland has sustained winds of 50 miles per hour in places, and this is constant," Chamblee said. "Here is this huge resource, and it's being exploited but on a limited basis. Scottish government issued a campaign in 2008 for renewable energy to have 80 percent of Scotland run by renewable energy by 2050. My argument was to show the potential for energy in the area."

Smith's project involved interacting with small business owners, her favorite part of her experience in Scotland.

"I actually traveled around Doris' constituency in Glasgow," she said. "A colleague and I walked door to door and knocked on small business offices and asked owners about relevant policies - if they liked them, if they were effective, etc. It was really neat because you got to meet the local people, and you got to hear them voice how government was affecting them. A lot of towns in Scotland are like those here in the South. They're pretty small, and everyone knows everyone."

Chamblee and Smith agreed that their experiences were culturally enlightening.

"From the very beginning, I was in awe that I was in the halls of Scottish Parliament," Chamblee said. "That's something I couldn't have imagined two-and-a-half years ago."

Smith enjoyed getting to know some of the people in Scotland.

"It was cool to see the way they think because they are such a socialist country," she said. "They have universal health care already. For us not to have universal health care, which is such a hot topic here, is beyond them. They just don't understand it at all. The different perspective was interesting to hear and consider."

For more information, contact Study Abroad Adviser Maury Breazeale at 662-915-1508 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/study_abroad/programs/scotland_parliament-internship.