Small-town Idaho to D.C. internships, ASUI president eyes future

Martha Smith once stood at the intersection of the Lochsa, Clearwater and Selway rivers of remote northern Idaho watching wildfire consume the hillside on the other shore.

The blaze was among a slew of more than 7,800 wildfires in 2014 that burned 650,000 acres in Idaho resulting in two fatalities, 146 injuries and costing more than $204 million in damages.

For Smith, whose family owns the Three Rivers Resort, it was a time of great uncertainty.

“I just stood there and watched that entire thing burn,” she said.

The fire kindled in Smith — although she didn’t articulate it at the time — a desire to help others who are unable to help themselves, like her many neighbors who lost their homes in the fire.

Smith, who was 11 years old at the time, wanted to evolve into a person who could be relied upon to alleviate challenges. She wanted to be the intermediary between chaos and well-being.

The impetus became more pronounced when, as a young real estate agent, Smith helped people buy and sell homes, mitigate repairs and provide buyers and sellers with assurance.

“I liked fixing things, remediating problems,” she said.

Since enrolling at U of I, Smith, who graduates in May 2025 with degrees in political science and economics, finds the focal point she adopted on the riverbank a decade ago has become more pronounced. Smith has followed her proactiveness to the university’s student council, and most recently she was elected student body president.

“I have been involved in ASUI since my first semester on campus,” said Smith, whose productive, albeit short-lived career as a real estate agent was sidelined when she became a college student.

Becoming a real estate agent while in high school — the state real estate commission made an exception by allowing her to be certified while still a teenager — and earning solid commissions was enabling. Smith found herself with the freedom that came with financial security.

“I understood that having means, with the money I earned through commissions, is really empowering,” she said. “I understood how being financial independent gives you the freedom to help others.”

As a three-sport athlete and her class valedictorian, Smith received a host of college scholarships which she didn’t hesitate to accept.

Her first semester in Moscow, Smith bolstered her academic knowledge with political science and economics courses and applied her education to hands-on experience in Washington D.C. She interned twice in the nation’s capital, including on Capitol Hill and at a lobbying firm. She plans to return in Summer 2025 to work at a think-tank.

Smith’s experience on Capitol Hill with an internship at Sen. Jim Risch’s office in Summer 2023 was followed up with another chance to work in the nation’s capital when she was chosen as the first Vandal in D.C. — a U of I program in which the McClure Center sponsors a student to participate in the Washington Center’s Academic Internship Program. The program provides students with a variety of internship opportunities tailored to the student’s interests and professional aspirations.

“Faculty in the Political Science program, including myself, encouraged her to apply because we thought she would be a great fit for the program,” said Markie McBrayer, assistant professor of political science. “She was simply the best student for the inaugural Vandals in D.C. program. She was eager to gain more professional experience that was distinct from her work with Sen. Risch.”

The experience Smith gained through courses and internships has evolved into a sharp perspective that she applies to real world issues, McBrayer said.

A paper Smith submitted on school levies in rural Idaho, inspired by her own experiences with school levies in her hometown of Kooskia, was published in Political Science’s Cook Undergraduate Research Journal.

I liked fixing things, remediating problems.

— Martha Smith, ASUI president and political science major

“The thing that really sets her apart is that she sees a lot of these opportunities as things that will ultimately help her serve Idaho,” McBrayer said. “Martha wants to have a positive impact on this state.”

After graduation Smith expects to take a year-long hiatus to prepare for law school. Her goals, formed as a child on a riverbank watching wildfire consume her rural neighborhood, although refined, remain the same.

“I want people to be able to share their perspectives, politically and economically, and work together for a common goal,” she said. “I want to mediate that, to ensure that happens.”

Article by Ralph Bartholdt, University Communications.

Photos by Garrett Britton, University Visual Productions.

Published in March 2025.