J-School senior Heather Leigh Davis, second from left, poses with President Clinton and other interns.

Among the many rumors circling the White House these days are a lot of myths about White House interns. I was an intern in the White House speechwriting department this summer. I did not know Monica Lewinsky, and really could care less about her. What I regret is that this incident has shed a negative light on what is really a remarkable program and a motivated, ambitious group of students.

Working at the White House is more than just an opportunity to walk the same halls as national leaders. It is about more than being a political insider for three months. A White House internship is long hours with no pay in a very intense environment. It is work -- work that I and my fellow interns took very seriously.

It is a joke among Washington intern circles that working at the White House is exciting at first, and then it's like working at the Post Office. Naturally, as interns in many fields will attest, a considerable portion of your work day is spent at the copy machine, the fax machine, or on the phone. If you work in speechwriting as I did, you get to know the library pretty well, too.

However, your experience at the White House is really what you make it. Some interns arrive at 9 a.m., go to lunch at noon, and head out to see the sights at 5 p.m. I was there at 8 a.m., took lunch in the cafeteria when I could get it (Washington is too hot in the summer to go outside anyway), and left when the rest of the office staff left, usually around 8 p.m.

It was not unusual for our office to pull late nights working on drafts of speeches. I knew it was going to be a late night when the speechwriters would come back from a briefing with their Chinese food orders ready.

Some may groan to think of spending 15 hours at work, but it was those nights that were the most exciting. In our office we knew that the good stuff happened after 6 p.m.

"It is a joke among Washington intern circles that working at the White House is exciting at first, and then it's like working at the Post Office."

On one particularly long night, I sat in on a brainstorming session for the president's commencement address at UC San Diego that launched his race initiative. It was the sort of meeting I had read about in Peggy Noonan's accounts of her years in the Reagan administration, but to actually experience it was unforgettable. I left that night just in time to catch the last train home, not exhausted, but elated.

In return for my efforts I was entrusted with important tasks. I was given the opportunity to write some, edit and research. I took pride in finished speeches and listened intently to every word the president said. I worked with staff members from many different offices on a regular basis and was respected by those people as if I were a regular employee.

The White House staff, including the president, realizes that day-to-day operations would be considerably more difficult if it were not for the interns. At the intern photo session this summer, the president told the story of how the interns kept the place running when the government was shut down and all non-essential employees were furloughed.

The White House internships are a competitive program requiring a resume, two letters of recommendation, a writing sample and an essay, in addition to the basic application.

Contrary to popular myth, there is no space on the form to list your parents' donations to the Democratic National Committee.

All interns attend an all-day orientation session. In this session the basic ground rules are covered. The protocol is strict: Interns are specifically instructed on how to dress, where they can and cannot go, and most importantly the appropriate behavior when the "principals" are present.

The White House is the only place where the president is not a celebrity. Interns are reminded that they are not to "hang out" in halls they expect the president to walk through or outside rooms where he may be meeting. They are absolutely not to ask for autographs. In short, interns are expected to act as any other staff member would.

Most interns work in the Old Executive Office next door to the White House. A few interns work in offices in the West Wing, and some who do not may be granted a blue pass. A blue pass allows the holder access to all non-residential areas of the White House.

Consequently, most interns see the president only a handful of times. He poses for a group picture with each intern session, where he thanks the interns for their hard work. Some interns may get to meet the president personally, as I did when I accompanied a speechwriter to a videotaping of a message the president could not deliver in person.

I ran errands to the West Wing frequently, occasionally even to the Oval Office. Only on one or two occasions did I see the president, and when I went to the Oval Office, I certainly did not deliver documents directly to him.

Most of the former interns I spoke with agreed that we could not imagine an intern having as much access to the president as Lewinsky claims to have had.

Cokie Roberts reported a poll last weekend that said 44 percent of Americans would not want their 21-year-old daughter to intern in the Clinton White House if given the opportunity. That's good news for those of us who would have to compete with their daughters, but unfortunate for them. A White House internship is the creme de la creme of political internships, and it can be described as nothing less than the opportunity of a lifetime.

Heather Leigh Davis of Aloha is a senior in journalism and political science at the University of Oregon. Her father, Glenn Davis, is the editor of The Oregonian's op-ed page. This editorial was originally published in The Oregonian on Feb. 8, 1998.