Today I spoke with Nicole Migliore, Chief of Staff for my local state assemblyperson. Nicole is a relatively recent college graduate with a degree in sustainable development. Not the stuff that political dreams are made of. She says she got into politics by accident. You can, too!

After a disappointing experience at a community based organization, Nicole took a job as a policy analyst for a local politician. When you see policy analyst positions posted, you don’t entirely know what that means. If you like going out into the community to learn what’s going on (research) and that makes you curious to learn what’s going on in other places (political research) and you enjoy writing, policy analyst may be just the job for you.

If you’d asked Nicole if she thought she would be Chief of Staff for a politician even just two years ago, she would have laughed in your face. Today, when I asked her if she would consider running for political office, her immediate response was ‘Oh no!’ Uh huh. I predict that this self-identified Jack of all trades, who readily spouts sound-bite-worthy phrases like ‘high information voter’ to describe a personal goal to educate people about what, who and why they’re voting, may move up the political ladder faster than she thinks.

You can find her at Irish Stand—a St. Patrick’s Day benefit for the ACLU held at Riverside Church in the City of New York on Friday, March 17th 7:30-10p.