Well... tonight was the night and for the most part there were no surprises. Republicans took the house and Democrats will almost definitely hold on to the senate (I say almost definitely because all the numbers aren't in but CNN projects they'll hold it).
Tomorrow we'll wake up to a new America. That doesn't mean that things will change right away because we are talking about politics here but it does mean that the conversation will change from "Why haven't the Democrats done anything to save our jobs?" to "What are the Republicans going to do about it?" I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm a strong Democrat and we took a beating tonight in the house and governors races but that was expected. What is rare is for the house to switch and the senate to remain the same, so we'll have to wait and see what results that will have on legislation.
Now that the Republicans have control of the house, I hope (because they got what they wanted) that they'll be able to make some compromises and I really really hope that the Democrats don't take this as an opportunity to become what they've been railing against; the party of "no." As I've said many times before in this blog, it's less about who's in power and more about what both sides are willing to compromise on in order to get things done for the country. Now, more than ever, there is an opportunity for Obama to take the high ground and say to the Republicans that he and Democrats are willing to work together to get America back to work and stop the build-up of debt. There are real issues which need addressing and while I believe the Democrats have answers that are closer to correct, they're not always going to be correct and what's important is for members of congress to be able to reach an agreement and get something done.
As far as predictions for the future are concerned, the gubernatorial races are more significant than people think. In many states the governors have a large say in the redistricting process. This republican takeover of many governorships coincides with the census (when redistricting is done) which means that in a republican controlled situation, redistricting will favor republicans and districts will be created in order to preserve republican seats. That means that looking forward, because of this swing toward the right in governors races, we could be seeing the republicans holding a significant amount of power for years to come.
As a final note, in 2008, after sweeping house, senate and presidential races, the media declared the republican party nearly dead. Two years later, here we are. Look at a map of this election if you want to see just how "dead" the republican party is. This country swings back and forth and while there may be predictions of doom and gloom for Obama's ability to get things done and the fate of the Democratic party, my response is... just wait and see.
That's all for now. See you next time!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Rally!
As many of you probably know, this weekend, Saturday specifically, is the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally and I am, as a loyal moderate Democrat, going. I know a lot of people are going because it'll be fun to see Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in person and hear what they have to say while being surrounded by, I'll guess, 200,000 people. A lot of them are going because they think it's going to be fun, or funny. While I think it's going to be fun, and will involve comedy, it's important to look past the first layer. Yes, Jon Stewart is a funny guy with witty observations, but that's no reason to gather hundreds of thousands of people. There has to be something more... something below the humor; and I believe there is. For me, the rally will be fun and funny but it's also a chance to make known the fact that extremism is a dangerous path. This is true with anything from religion to diet. Too much of anything with a complete disregard for its counterpart, or alternatives leads to some pretty bad situations (we've seen a few throughout history).
For my own part, I'm going to the rally because I do agree with one of the tag lines, "The only person who should have a Hitler mustache drawn on them is Hitler, or Charlie Chaplin in some roles." Even though it sounds funny, that's a statement that I really believe in and support. In America, why is it acceptable to portrait the leader of your country as Hitler when his actions are so vastly different? It's an insult to him, to the country, and to the office of president. We have to get back to respect! Many of the people we've talked to have said that the situation in Washington (heavy partisanship) would get better if Congressmen did what they used to... drink together! I'm not just using a made-up example. Specifically, leaders in Washington have said that back in the day, when, regardless of what had happened on the floor, Republicans and Democrats could go out for a drink together, things got done in Congress! Nowadays, Congressmen hate having to spend time with the other party. It used to be the case that you could agree to disagree on ideology but you still respected the person. Not so today, and I blame the media to a certain extent. Firstly, Congressmen hosting big parties to which both sides of the aisle are invited and going out drinking would make for a field day for the media, so that can't be done. A sound bite in which a Democrat says he agrees with a Republican would be cut up and used as leverage against him immediately, so they can't risk that. Finally, when you only have 30 seconds to talk to your voters in a commercial what are you going to say? Are you going to talk about how you think the other side has some good ideas and that if it's in the best interest of the country you might be willing to compromise even if your state needs to make a small sacrifice? No! You're going to talk about how you'll do whatever it takes to reform business as usual in Washington, because you're not a Washington insider. You stick to the values that your great state instilled in you and no amount of persuasion from lobbyists or other elected officials is going to change your mind. Then what happens?? You get a Washington and realize that if you stick to your guns all the time, nothing is going to get done but if you compromise you'll be accused of lying during your campaign and you won't get the support or have the fund-raising ability to get reelected. So now what? You sit and add as much pork as you can to bills so that when you go home you can show your constituents that you're in it for them.
What I've just described is true across the board for elected officials in Washington and both sides agree on it. Civility is gone, camaraderie is gone, and even though both sides acknowledge it, they can't change it because it will mean possibly losing reelection because the American public has gotten so used to bigotry, attack ads, and promises to not compromise.
It's a tough situation we're in and it'll be a while before we're out of it, most likely.
Finally, the point I'm making is that the rally this weekend represents the way things used to be. People who have different opinions being able to come together and talk civilly about issues that are important to everyone. I know that while you're reading this some of you are thinking, "Both sides won't be there, this is an event for Democrats." While it's true that most in attendance will most likely be Democrats, the values that it professes are values which we can all embrace.
I'd like to leave you with a line from a song called "Gulf War Song." Look it up, it's really good a capella.
"What makes a person so poisonous righteous, that they'd think less of anyone who just disagrees?"
For my own part, I'm going to the rally because I do agree with one of the tag lines, "The only person who should have a Hitler mustache drawn on them is Hitler, or Charlie Chaplin in some roles." Even though it sounds funny, that's a statement that I really believe in and support. In America, why is it acceptable to portrait the leader of your country as Hitler when his actions are so vastly different? It's an insult to him, to the country, and to the office of president. We have to get back to respect! Many of the people we've talked to have said that the situation in Washington (heavy partisanship) would get better if Congressmen did what they used to... drink together! I'm not just using a made-up example. Specifically, leaders in Washington have said that back in the day, when, regardless of what had happened on the floor, Republicans and Democrats could go out for a drink together, things got done in Congress! Nowadays, Congressmen hate having to spend time with the other party. It used to be the case that you could agree to disagree on ideology but you still respected the person. Not so today, and I blame the media to a certain extent. Firstly, Congressmen hosting big parties to which both sides of the aisle are invited and going out drinking would make for a field day for the media, so that can't be done. A sound bite in which a Democrat says he agrees with a Republican would be cut up and used as leverage against him immediately, so they can't risk that. Finally, when you only have 30 seconds to talk to your voters in a commercial what are you going to say? Are you going to talk about how you think the other side has some good ideas and that if it's in the best interest of the country you might be willing to compromise even if your state needs to make a small sacrifice? No! You're going to talk about how you'll do whatever it takes to reform business as usual in Washington, because you're not a Washington insider. You stick to the values that your great state instilled in you and no amount of persuasion from lobbyists or other elected officials is going to change your mind. Then what happens?? You get a Washington and realize that if you stick to your guns all the time, nothing is going to get done but if you compromise you'll be accused of lying during your campaign and you won't get the support or have the fund-raising ability to get reelected. So now what? You sit and add as much pork as you can to bills so that when you go home you can show your constituents that you're in it for them.
What I've just described is true across the board for elected officials in Washington and both sides agree on it. Civility is gone, camaraderie is gone, and even though both sides acknowledge it, they can't change it because it will mean possibly losing reelection because the American public has gotten so used to bigotry, attack ads, and promises to not compromise.
It's a tough situation we're in and it'll be a while before we're out of it, most likely.
Finally, the point I'm making is that the rally this weekend represents the way things used to be. People who have different opinions being able to come together and talk civilly about issues that are important to everyone. I know that while you're reading this some of you are thinking, "Both sides won't be there, this is an event for Democrats." While it's true that most in attendance will most likely be Democrats, the values that it professes are values which we can all embrace.
I'd like to leave you with a line from a song called "Gulf War Song." Look it up, it's really good a capella.
"What makes a person so poisonous righteous, that they'd think less of anyone who just disagrees?"
A Mentor
Yesterday our class had one of the best, if not the best, speaker we've had so far. The Honorable Norman Mineta, former Secretary of Transportation (Bush) and former Secretary of Commerce (Clinton). Aside from these titles he was also held in a Japanese Internment Camp during WWII! He told us the story of his father's journey from Japan because as the second son, he had no inheritance and decided to, at age 14, make the journey to America, speaking no English and with no money!
He worked his way down the west coast until he made it to southern California where he eventually set up an insurance company. His son, Norman, began to work with him in the family business until he was asked to fill a vacated City Council seat. From there he became a Congressman and then went on to fill the positions listed above.
He is a truly amazing man with a truly amazing story. What I left out above was the time, as a young boy, when he and his family were put in an internment camp during WWII and all of their possessions (aside from what they could carry) were taken away and their insurance business destroyed. These experiences shaped his work, especially after 9/11 when he was drafting policy which would require airline security to be made uniform around the country. The first requirement was that officers would engage in no racial profiling of any kind. Whether or not all officers do abide by that, they are given special training in order to avoid the behavior.
The most impressive story he told was about his experiences on 9/11. He was in a meeting when an assistant told him that a plane had struck one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He went into his office and there witnessed the second plane. He said that he has learned that when something happens once, it's an accident, when it happens twice it's a trend, and when it happens a three times, it's a planned action.
He got the call to come to the White House and when he arrived he noticed that everyone was leaving while he was entering. He was taken down into the intelligence center of the White House where he was given access to all the information about planes in the air. He described the moments during which someone he was on the phone with described the movements of one plane as it headed toward D.C. As it came within miles of the capitol, it was lost on the radar and moments later was crashed into the Pentagon. He then gave the order to ground all planes and within two and half hours, more than 4,000 planes were taken out of the air, and all international flights were rerouted to Canada.
This was an amazing man with an amazing story and definitely one of the best speakers we've had!
He worked his way down the west coast until he made it to southern California where he eventually set up an insurance company. His son, Norman, began to work with him in the family business until he was asked to fill a vacated City Council seat. From there he became a Congressman and then went on to fill the positions listed above.
He is a truly amazing man with a truly amazing story. What I left out above was the time, as a young boy, when he and his family were put in an internment camp during WWII and all of their possessions (aside from what they could carry) were taken away and their insurance business destroyed. These experiences shaped his work, especially after 9/11 when he was drafting policy which would require airline security to be made uniform around the country. The first requirement was that officers would engage in no racial profiling of any kind. Whether or not all officers do abide by that, they are given special training in order to avoid the behavior.
The most impressive story he told was about his experiences on 9/11. He was in a meeting when an assistant told him that a plane had struck one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He went into his office and there witnessed the second plane. He said that he has learned that when something happens once, it's an accident, when it happens twice it's a trend, and when it happens a three times, it's a planned action.
He got the call to come to the White House and when he arrived he noticed that everyone was leaving while he was entering. He was taken down into the intelligence center of the White House where he was given access to all the information about planes in the air. He described the moments during which someone he was on the phone with described the movements of one plane as it headed toward D.C. As it came within miles of the capitol, it was lost on the radar and moments later was crashed into the Pentagon. He then gave the order to ground all planes and within two and half hours, more than 4,000 planes were taken out of the air, and all international flights were rerouted to Canada.
This was an amazing man with an amazing story and definitely one of the best speakers we've had!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
My Internship
Hello again!
In the American Politics Program, Monday through Wednesday are class days while Thursday and Friday are reserved for internships, which means that for me, today was an internship day.
I took care of the usual stuff, getting in at around 8:45am I read some news and then started my day when the first member of my department came in at around 9:15am. Unfortunately, today was one of those days where it was pretty monotonous. I started my task at 9:15am, took lunch at 12:20pm and by the time I left at 5:15pm, I was about 2/3 done. Needless to say, it's a big, time consuming, task.
I'm really writing this blog to tell you about an opportunity I can't take, but which was presented to me. This is, as you know, an election year and the DNC is working hard to make sure Democrats hold on to all the seats they can, even though things aren't looking great, especially in the house. This means that some of the interns were offered the opportunity to be (as they call it) deployed into key states in the area for a final push before the election. I would love to tell you which state I was deployed to, but I can't because they didn't tell me! As I said, because of my class schedule I will be unable to accept the offer but the point is that I was offered this opportunity in the first place. How many college students can say they were deployed by the DNC to some state around the country to help secure seats in one of the most heated, bi-partisan elections we've seen in who knows how long? The answer, I'd wager, is not very many.
Opportunities like this are what the program is all about. The work you'll do in class is far above your actual class level in college. For example, in my program we are expected to write as first year graduate students while most of us are Juniors! In the same sense, in D.C. at-large, you're expected to take on tasks which you'll realize are not commonly given to people our age; you're asked to take on more responsibilities. For example, in my position in the HR department at the DNC, unrelated to politics though it is, I have nearly full access to the employee data base which means I have access to around 600 Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, families' names and addresses and so on... This level of privilege and trust isn't paralleled (as far as I can remember) by anything else I've done, except maybe overseeing the distribution of funds from my home school's student council (around $1 million total).
The point I'm making, and the point that I'll close on, is that I've come to realize that even if I'm not in the greatest internship I could have imagined, there are ups and downs and one of the ups is experiencing life as if I'm 5 or 10+ years older than I actually am... and I have to say, it's getting me pretty excited about real life!
That's all for now.
Check in later for more stories and things I've learned!
In the American Politics Program, Monday through Wednesday are class days while Thursday and Friday are reserved for internships, which means that for me, today was an internship day.
I took care of the usual stuff, getting in at around 8:45am I read some news and then started my day when the first member of my department came in at around 9:15am. Unfortunately, today was one of those days where it was pretty monotonous. I started my task at 9:15am, took lunch at 12:20pm and by the time I left at 5:15pm, I was about 2/3 done. Needless to say, it's a big, time consuming, task.
I'm really writing this blog to tell you about an opportunity I can't take, but which was presented to me. This is, as you know, an election year and the DNC is working hard to make sure Democrats hold on to all the seats they can, even though things aren't looking great, especially in the house. This means that some of the interns were offered the opportunity to be (as they call it) deployed into key states in the area for a final push before the election. I would love to tell you which state I was deployed to, but I can't because they didn't tell me! As I said, because of my class schedule I will be unable to accept the offer but the point is that I was offered this opportunity in the first place. How many college students can say they were deployed by the DNC to some state around the country to help secure seats in one of the most heated, bi-partisan elections we've seen in who knows how long? The answer, I'd wager, is not very many.
Opportunities like this are what the program is all about. The work you'll do in class is far above your actual class level in college. For example, in my program we are expected to write as first year graduate students while most of us are Juniors! In the same sense, in D.C. at-large, you're expected to take on tasks which you'll realize are not commonly given to people our age; you're asked to take on more responsibilities. For example, in my position in the HR department at the DNC, unrelated to politics though it is, I have nearly full access to the employee data base which means I have access to around 600 Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, families' names and addresses and so on... This level of privilege and trust isn't paralleled (as far as I can remember) by anything else I've done, except maybe overseeing the distribution of funds from my home school's student council (around $1 million total).
The point I'm making, and the point that I'll close on, is that I've come to realize that even if I'm not in the greatest internship I could have imagined, there are ups and downs and one of the ups is experiencing life as if I'm 5 or 10+ years older than I actually am... and I have to say, it's getting me pretty excited about real life!
That's all for now.
Check in later for more stories and things I've learned!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A Day of Education
Hey folks!
Today we met with Lyndsay Pinkus, the Policy Manager at Data Quality Campaign. She is a lobbyist who focuses on education issues. Currently, the U.S. is well behind the majority of the industrialized world when it comes to education. Our test numbers and other measures of improvement have either fallen or stagnated over the past 15 to 30 years. This, combined with a continuous increase in education levels in competing countries means that we're even further behind.
Some of the issues facing us are funding, charter schools, and "at-risk" youth. New York City recently redefined "at-risk." For some time it meant youth at risk of dropping out, and getting involved with drugs or crime. Now, for New York, it means youth at risk of moving off the path. Namely, the path to success through college and a successful completion of high school.
The conversation on education is often driven by what the large foundations who donate to education issues want to talk about. This follows logically given the fact that you have people with big purses willing to throw money around and you can bet the media is going to talk about where they throw it. Because of this trend, central issues of the education debate have switched from early education, "No Child Left Behind." (Notice the use of the word "child." It implies early education as opposed to "youth" or "adolescence"). They now focus on high school statistics. Obama said that by 2020, the U.S. would lead the world on number of college graduates. This, again, changes the conversation from high school issues to high education. It doesn't mean that the high school problems have been solved but it does mean there will be a transition between discussions of getting people to graduate from high school and move toward conversations about keeping our population internationally competitive by ensuring a healthy rate of college attendance and graduation.
Moving forward, there are numerous issues on the table, and numerous proposals for solving/improving our country's education system. One thing everyone agrees on: we are slipping in our ability to compete internationally and if we want to remain a world power, we need to have an educated population.
Until next time!
Today we met with Lyndsay Pinkus, the Policy Manager at Data Quality Campaign. She is a lobbyist who focuses on education issues. Currently, the U.S. is well behind the majority of the industrialized world when it comes to education. Our test numbers and other measures of improvement have either fallen or stagnated over the past 15 to 30 years. This, combined with a continuous increase in education levels in competing countries means that we're even further behind.
Some of the issues facing us are funding, charter schools, and "at-risk" youth. New York City recently redefined "at-risk." For some time it meant youth at risk of dropping out, and getting involved with drugs or crime. Now, for New York, it means youth at risk of moving off the path. Namely, the path to success through college and a successful completion of high school.
The conversation on education is often driven by what the large foundations who donate to education issues want to talk about. This follows logically given the fact that you have people with big purses willing to throw money around and you can bet the media is going to talk about where they throw it. Because of this trend, central issues of the education debate have switched from early education, "No Child Left Behind." (Notice the use of the word "child." It implies early education as opposed to "youth" or "adolescence"). They now focus on high school statistics. Obama said that by 2020, the U.S. would lead the world on number of college graduates. This, again, changes the conversation from high school issues to high education. It doesn't mean that the high school problems have been solved but it does mean there will be a transition between discussions of getting people to graduate from high school and move toward conversations about keeping our population internationally competitive by ensuring a healthy rate of college attendance and graduation.
Moving forward, there are numerous issues on the table, and numerous proposals for solving/improving our country's education system. One thing everyone agrees on: we are slipping in our ability to compete internationally and if we want to remain a world power, we need to have an educated population.
Until next time!
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Case for Social Security and Generations
Today was an action packed day, you could say. We started off bright and early by meeting downtown by Union Station at 10 G Street to speak with representatives of The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. The representatives talked about issues such as the trust fund, the trustees, the pay-go system and the risk of privatization. There are many out there who suggest that in order to save Social Security we need to privatize a portion of it. This would mean that instead of paying your full 12.4% into SS, you'd pay a portion into a private savings account and then the rest into SS. The problem, which was pointed out to us today, is that then you have less money coming into the SS system and because it's a pay-go (pay as you go) system, there wouldn't be enough money in the fund to pay for the benefits of the entire retired population. This would obviously cause problems!
Next, we returned to campus and had a quick lunch before meeting Neil Howe, a well known author in the subject of generations and an expert in the filed. His talk was, personally, fascinating. It felt a bit like horoscope reading at first, which I'll go into in a second, but after a while and some heavy fact presentation, it became quite believable and quite interesting. I say it felt like a horoscope reading because he and his colleagues have divided up the generations based on large events and trends which greatly overlap. He also took to referring to people from one generation and the ways in which they interact with other generations as if everyone in one slot was the same. After a bit of talking, this didn't matter at all, however. All of the significances of each generation became obvious, as he gave examples which are not only true, but prevalent. For example, Generation X was raised in an environment in which they had to learn to fend for themselves. They were latch-key kids and often relied on siblings for support as opposed to parents. Commercials of the day portrayed children as annoyances to their parents; this is something almost unimaginable today.
He also pointed out that generations seem to cycle when the passing on of one generation creates a vacuum for certain qualities. Then, the next generation takes on those qualities. For me, I was quite happy to discover that our generation, being called the Millennials, is scheduled to take the place of the G.I. Generation. The G.I.s personified civic duty, service, trust in government, and political and economic power. For someone who wants to make a career in politics, this means that our generation will be much easier to organize as opposed to the Boomers, who emphasized individuality and time for introverted self-discovery. They also tended toward somewhat violent acts in their attempts to define themselves.
So, in conclusion, the rest of the population should watch out for us and we should be prepared to go down in history as American heroes and the stuff of myth and legend.
Next, we returned to campus and had a quick lunch before meeting Neil Howe, a well known author in the subject of generations and an expert in the filed. His talk was, personally, fascinating. It felt a bit like horoscope reading at first, which I'll go into in a second, but after a while and some heavy fact presentation, it became quite believable and quite interesting. I say it felt like a horoscope reading because he and his colleagues have divided up the generations based on large events and trends which greatly overlap. He also took to referring to people from one generation and the ways in which they interact with other generations as if everyone in one slot was the same. After a bit of talking, this didn't matter at all, however. All of the significances of each generation became obvious, as he gave examples which are not only true, but prevalent. For example, Generation X was raised in an environment in which they had to learn to fend for themselves. They were latch-key kids and often relied on siblings for support as opposed to parents. Commercials of the day portrayed children as annoyances to their parents; this is something almost unimaginable today.
He also pointed out that generations seem to cycle when the passing on of one generation creates a vacuum for certain qualities. Then, the next generation takes on those qualities. For me, I was quite happy to discover that our generation, being called the Millennials, is scheduled to take the place of the G.I. Generation. The G.I.s personified civic duty, service, trust in government, and political and economic power. For someone who wants to make a career in politics, this means that our generation will be much easier to organize as opposed to the Boomers, who emphasized individuality and time for introverted self-discovery. They also tended toward somewhat violent acts in their attempts to define themselves.
So, in conclusion, the rest of the population should watch out for us and we should be prepared to go down in history as American heroes and the stuff of myth and legend.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
And we're back!
Hey folks,
I know it's been a long time since my last post so I'll take a second to catch you up and then we'll look forward.
Since the last time I posted we've passed the half-way point here in D.C. and I have to tell you it's a very strange feeling. They say it takes you 6 weeks to become comfortable sleeping in a new environment and that 6 weeks is half of this program. I can tell you that for a while I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I was at home, or at my home school and being really confused for a few moments. That doesn't happen any more and along with it I've begun to feel like a real resident of D.C.! It's a great feeling. They talk about Potomac fever, and I knew I had it before I came here, and I certainly have it now!
I'm going to take this paragraph to talk about how the Washington Semester isn't all fun and games... while it's all fun, there's definitely a work load like you've probably never seen. My midterm was about a week ago and a small group of us made a study which turn out to be... ready for it... 80 typed pages! We took about 30 hours studying for it and that was certainly not overkill considering what we had to know. That being said, I was having a conversation with my dad the other day during which I realized that if I wasn't been asked to do so much, and know so much, and work so hard, I wouldn't be getting everything out of the program that I am. I've never taken part in a program, taken a class etc. that has made me feel like my writing is improving to the degree that it is during this program, and that in itself is an amazing feat.
I had a few friends from my home school Clark University, visit about a week ago and I showed them around the city. One hadn't ever been to D.C. before and was amazed at the scale of everything. We walked from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and realized that, as I had known but forgotten, that it's quite a long walk along the Mall. 2.5 miles to be exact! This falls in line with everything here. The names, the faces, the buildings are all bigger than anything you've seen before. It's one thing to see a celebrity on the streets of LA, and another thing entirely to see, in person, someone whose job it is to make the laws that affect your life every day. In some cases, dealing in foreign affairs, these men and women are making laws and regulations that affect the entire world! No celebrity can claim to have the same clout and you'll see that for yourselves when you get here.
Moving forward, I'll be doing more of what I've been doing. That is, meeting amazing people with great stories to tell and advice to pass on, seeing more of the city, because you can never see enough, and doing more hard work.
That's all for now, my posts will become more frequent as these weeks continue and I hope you'll be joining me!
I know it's been a long time since my last post so I'll take a second to catch you up and then we'll look forward.
Since the last time I posted we've passed the half-way point here in D.C. and I have to tell you it's a very strange feeling. They say it takes you 6 weeks to become comfortable sleeping in a new environment and that 6 weeks is half of this program. I can tell you that for a while I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I was at home, or at my home school and being really confused for a few moments. That doesn't happen any more and along with it I've begun to feel like a real resident of D.C.! It's a great feeling. They talk about Potomac fever, and I knew I had it before I came here, and I certainly have it now!
I'm going to take this paragraph to talk about how the Washington Semester isn't all fun and games... while it's all fun, there's definitely a work load like you've probably never seen. My midterm was about a week ago and a small group of us made a study which turn out to be... ready for it... 80 typed pages! We took about 30 hours studying for it and that was certainly not overkill considering what we had to know. That being said, I was having a conversation with my dad the other day during which I realized that if I wasn't been asked to do so much, and know so much, and work so hard, I wouldn't be getting everything out of the program that I am. I've never taken part in a program, taken a class etc. that has made me feel like my writing is improving to the degree that it is during this program, and that in itself is an amazing feat.
I had a few friends from my home school Clark University, visit about a week ago and I showed them around the city. One hadn't ever been to D.C. before and was amazed at the scale of everything. We walked from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and realized that, as I had known but forgotten, that it's quite a long walk along the Mall. 2.5 miles to be exact! This falls in line with everything here. The names, the faces, the buildings are all bigger than anything you've seen before. It's one thing to see a celebrity on the streets of LA, and another thing entirely to see, in person, someone whose job it is to make the laws that affect your life every day. In some cases, dealing in foreign affairs, these men and women are making laws and regulations that affect the entire world! No celebrity can claim to have the same clout and you'll see that for yourselves when you get here.
Moving forward, I'll be doing more of what I've been doing. That is, meeting amazing people with great stories to tell and advice to pass on, seeing more of the city, because you can never see enough, and doing more hard work.
That's all for now, my posts will become more frequent as these weeks continue and I hope you'll be joining me!
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