Week 5 in Washington

Hard to believe that summer is about to come to an end.  With only three days remaining in my Washington, DC internship, the bittersweetness is definitely starting to set in.  Even though this was a short summer internship - just under six weeks - I’ve definitely learned a ton.  Rep. Olson and his office have really helped make this a great experience.  They’ve given me and the other three interns the chance to draft letters and emails, explain the Congressman’s viewpoint on hot-button issues over the phone, and the opportunity to lead many tours of the nation’s Capitol Building.  The other interns have definitely made the experience too.  All of us get along really well and share many of the same interests, and it’s been really fun getting to know them at work,  touring the city, and going to evening receptions.

Spending nearly six weeks in the Capitol also has given me lots of free time to explore the city.  After seeing nearly all the Smithsonian museums - the most incredible museums I’ve ever seen - it’s made me realize how little I really know.  Knowledge just overflows from those museums.  Gemstones, volcanoes, antique planes, 9/11 remnants, 14th century art, animals from every continent - all of it’s right here, within a 1-mile radius of Capitol Hill.  If anything, it definitely has given me a sense of how much more there is to learn.

Interning in DC also makes me incredibly grateful to Texas Tech.  Because of the foresight that our University President had 13 years ago, Texas Tech has one of the best intern programs on Capitol Hill.  At any given time in the year, there are more than a dozen interns from Tech interning in Washington.  Equally good planning led the University to buy a house less than two blocks from the Capitol.  Some interns have to commute more than an hour each way to work every day. We have to walk about five minutes.

This experience has definitely given me a perspective of politics that would be impossible to achieve any other way.  For that I will always be grateful.

Fellow interns John and Olivia and Congressman Olson

Standing with the man of importance

I'm going to miss this view every day!

Week 4 in Washington

Week 4 was a great week, just as the first several have been.  I show up to work every morning and think to myself, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m really working here -- in our nation’s Capitol -- in the heart of the world’s most powerful city!”  And every day I’m re-encouraged to give my best effort in everything I do.  As the internship has progressed, Congressman Olson’s office has tasked me with projects of increasing levels of responsibility.  For example, I’m now helping to draft constituent correspondence in addition to explaining the Congressman’s position on hot-button issues over the phone.  I also really enjoy giving Capitol tours.  I’ve given nearly ten tours now, and every one gets easier.  After tour #1, I felt confident enough to give them without carrying my “Capitol Tour Handbook.”  All the tour experience for Texas Tech definitely helped give me confidence here.

Because my office has four interns and only three intern desks, each of us gets one day off every week.  I spent my day off last week touring the Holocaust Museum.  Learning about the Holocaust in history class was one thing - walking through an actual railcar that hauled thousands of Jews to their deaths in concentration camps was another entirely.  It was gripping, informative, and appalling; I will never forget the museum and its recurring theme of “never again.”

I have never really been interested in museums until now.  When I was younger, I just got tired of spending more than an hour or two inside one building.  Here, I have no reservations spending three, four, five hours in a row at some of the museums.  The museums in DC are the best I’ve ever seen.  Last weekend, I toured the “Newseum” with two other interns in my office.  The Newseum is the only museum in the world focused exclusively on news.  It depicts the most significant events in American history from the media’s perspective.  It’s a 5-story, sleek, ultra-modern museum with phenomenal exhibits.  A few of my favorites were the Pulitzer Prize photo gallery, the FBI exhibit, and the 9/11 exhibition.  Another of my favorites was the “News History” gallery with front-page headlines from the most important events every year in American history.

All in all, this internship has exceeded my expectations in almost every way.  The office situation is great, the hearings are super interesting, and there’s always an abundance of things to do around the city. To top it off, just yesterday I got to meet Paul Ryan! Now with less than two weeks left, I’m realizing how much stuff I still haven’t seen. Time to get busy.

                            One of my favorite pictures so far!