AUGUSTA — This summer, Emily Rice of Farmington participated in the Maine Government Summer Internship Program with the Maine Department of Labor. Rice spent 12 weeks working for the department’s Research and Statistics Division in the Bureau of Labor Standards as the records-keeping assistant.

Rice, a political science and history major at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, worked on projects ranging from conducting surveys, data collection, editing reports, sorting documents and photos and writing government reports.

“I have gained valuable hands-on experience and have learned about the impact of government, Legislature and policy,” Rice said.

The Maine State Government Internship Program combines paid work experience with education. Administered by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, it is a collaboration involving the Office of the Governor, the Maine Bureau of Human Resources and Maine state government agencies.