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Katie Fallon ’16 is spending the summer interning for in Washington, D.C., and it’s a far cry from making copies and getting coffee for this political science major from Hillsborough, Calif. . 

Last week, she participated in what is known as the Interns of various news organizations wait in the Supreme Court for decisions to be released and then hand deliver hard copies of the news to their media teams. If the decisions are groundbreaking, interns sprint with hopes of being the first to break the news. So they must come prepared — pairing their business attire with running shoes.

The event arises from the strict prohibition of cameras and recording devices inside the court. Often, interns have delivered the news to their producers while justices are still announcing the decision in the courtroom.

Fallon was the intern who ran both the case that legalized statutes of the Affordable Care Act and the decision that legalized gay marriage, meaning that she was one of the first people in America to know the news. Fallon was able to simultaneously be part of a time-honored tradition and the making of history.