Tracy Hahn-Burkett (LA '88) has taught English in the Czech Republic, worked as a legislative aid on Capital Hill, and served as a public policy director. She has also published essays on politics and adoptive families.
And now, she's switching gears toward fiction - though she hasn't left those previous experiences behind.
"[I've been surprised by] how much fiction is actually truth," Hahn-Burkett mused. "This is not something I actually suspected before. [But] of the novelists I really like and respect, the fiction has a lot of truth to it."
Perhaps it's no surprise that Hahn-Burkett's novel has roots in her own experiences. "The novel I'm working on is about a twenty-something who goes to Prague at the economic transformation," Hahn-Burkett said. "But she's going to have experiences that differ from mine."
Hahn-Burkett's own experiences have been many and varied. The lobbyist-turned-writer has explored a variety of interests ever since her time at Tufts, where she majored in political science and French.
"I was an apprentice in a ballet company and I had an interest in languages - I didn't know anything else of the world," said Hahn-Burkett, adding that she knew she didn't want to be a professional dancer.
"For me, Tufts was the land of opportunity - Tufts let me try all sorts of things and see how far I could take a skill or an interest," she said.
Hahn-Burkett spent a large amount of time working as a member of the Tufts Community Union Senate, working her way up to president by senior year. After graduating, she went to Washington, D.C. to find a job on Capitol Hill.
But finding a job in the bigger Senate took time. "I didn't know anyone, and I started out getting an internship," Hahn-Burkett said. "I went door to door - knocking on every Democratic door in Congress."
She eventually found an unpaid internship three days a week in the office of Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), answering constituent mail. To pay her bills, she also worked as a waitress. "It was five months from when I started looking until I got my paid job," Hahn-Burkett said.
After Kohl's reelection, Hahn-Burkett was promoted to a paid position as his legislative aide on immigration and human rights for the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I got to be the first person in my position in Herb Kohl's office," she said. "I was in that job for two and a half years, and I ended up getting to do amazing, fun things."
Hahn-Burkett saw the 1990 David Souter Supreme Court nomination up close, met senators and foreign leaders and got to be "in the room" for many important events. One of the highlights of her time on Capitol Hill was meeting Alexander Dubcek, the Czechoslovakian leader famous for his role in the Prague Spring liberalization reforms.
Hahn-Burkett's interest in Eastern Europe - which took root during her time at Tufts - also propelled her to her next career move: she deferred law school for a year to work in Prague.
"I was working on Capitol Hill when the Iron Curtain fell," Hahn-Burkett said. "Suddenly it was possible to just go live over there [in Prague] and work."
Hahn-Burkett began looking for opportunities in then-Czechoslovakia, and did not have to search very long. "Within four days I had a job teaching English in Prague," she said. "This was '91, '92. It was the land of opportunity for an American. I was 25 years old, but because I had worked in Congress, people thought I was an expert."
Hahn-Burkett quickly went from teaching English to working with the Federal Parliament and the Czech National Council via a student organization.
While the country's political transformation was already underway when Hahn-Burkett arrived, she witnessed the transition from a planned economy to a market economy firsthand.
"You could see it in the physical sites in the city," said Hahn-Burkett of Prague, a city privatized via a coupon scheme in which citizens made investment decisions. "Privatization went on while I was there."
"The trolleys when I got there were old and yellow and red, and when I left, they all had market-style advertisements on them," Hahn-Burkett added.
After a year in Prague, Hahn-Burkett came back to the U.S. and concurrently pursued degrees in international affairs and law from the University of Virginia, with the intent to use her Juris Doctor (J.D.) in the public sector.
"I had gotten as far as I was going to get without an advanced degree," she said. "In Washington, when you walk into a room and you have J.D. after your name, it certainly makes a difference. If you don't have a J.D. or some advanced degree, you're at a disadvantage."
But she added that getting a law degree is not the right choice for everyone. "I think it's very important to think about what program you go [into]," she said. "There are a lot of people who just go to law school because they don't know what else to do. You should know what it is you want to do before you go."
"If you're uncertain, take some time and see the possibilities in the real world, before you make the decision," Hahn-Burkett added.
After getting her J.D., Hahn-Burkett worked for a year at the Department of Justice and then landed at People for the American Way (PFAW) as a public policy director.
"That turned out to be a really fun job," Hahn-Burkett said. "I became a lobbyist for civil rights issues and for public education issues. I got to work on issues that were very important to me. I didn't always agree with those who were working with me, but I often did."
The end of her time at PFAW was spent concentrating on No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush's education bill.
"We were working to make it a better law, and we had some successes," Hahn-Burkett said. "It was two years in the room participating, trying to put together this massive overhaul."
Hahn-Burkett's lobbying became easier as she formed more connections. She said the difference between talking to staff and talking to the actual representatives depends on networks. "A lot of it is making connections, and using connections wisely," she said. "You want to establish yourself to people as a resource."
Hahn-Burkett left PFAW after the birth of her son (see box). She is now writing her first novel and enjoying having more time to raise her children.
"You can work part-time as a lobbyist, but the availability is full-time," she said. "If a senator calls a meeting at five o'clock on a Friday, you have to be there. You have to be on call all the time, and that's not how I wanted to be a mom."
