3L Destiny Rauschhuber Spends Summer with Federal and State Agencies

Destiny Rauschhuber is a 3L at Texas A&M University School of Law. Before law school, Destiny earned an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Business with a minor in Political Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Destiny has always been interested in the intersections between agriculture and environmental law since the topics often overlap. She is currently serving as the Agricultural Law Society President and the Secretary for the Public Interest Fellowship at the law school. Destiny has focused much of her legal internships on public service in the agricultural and environmental fields, and this past summer she interned the half of the summer at the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of General Counsel in Denver, Colorado, and the second half at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Austin, Texas. 

Although the pandemic affected everyone drastically, Destiny asserted she was extremely grateful she was still able to participate in both internships and even saved some money on rent because she did not have to travel. At the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Destiny worked on several projects concerning administrative review, tribal grants, and title work. She said the most interesting part of her internship was the daily intern Zoom calls when various attorneys from the Agency would present their work to the interns. These presentations included the new hemp regulations, grazing acts, and the Clean Water Act. “The presentations really helped broaden my understanding of agricultural law and how the federal government regulates it,” she said.

At TCEQ, Destiny interned in the environmental litigation department. She and three other Texas A&M students obtained the placement through the State Bar of Texas’ Environmental and Natural Resource Law Section internship program. Destiny explained that “it was interesting to experience the dichotomy between the state and federal governments back to back during the summer.” While at the TCEQ, Destiny drafted internal memorandums, summarized law related to piercing the corporate veil as it related to agency action, and researched relevant APA statutes. She also attended several virtual public forums, and her supervisors were heavily involved in connecting the interns with different attorneys at the TCEQ. 

Destiny hopes to continue working in the public sector after law school as she finds that “it provides plenty of opportunities to be hands-on and experience the legal field first hand.” She also encourages students interested in the area to find time to incorporate an externship or research positions into their schedules. Destiny externed with the Trinity River Authority and worked at the National Agricultural Law Research Center during her 2L year. She comments that Zoom has allowed students to work in locations that at one point would not have been accessible during the school year, and students should take full advantage of these opportunities. “Although it is time-consuming, these experiences add heavily to a resume and make all the difference when interviewing with future employers,” she added.