Friday, June 23, 2006

Posted 1 year, 10 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 22 hours, 58 minutes ago

So I guess this is the week of the half-way mark.  I am glad, too.  DC is beginning to break my bank!  I just bought my plane ticket to Amsterdam for my year abroad!  That was not cheap.  And on top of that, I couldn’t book it for July, yet, so I will have to pay a lot more money to change it from May to July!  That won’t be fun.  I am just glad that I am getting a paycheck for this internship, or else there would be no way I could afford all of this.  My apartment is paid for, my night class at Marymount University is paid for, my admission fee is paid for, and my security clearance was paid for.  I am extremely lucky to have this scholarship.

Norman Mineta is resigning on the 7th of July, and they are saying that this will be the last term for the scholarship program.  So we are going to be writing letters to congressmen to continue the program, but who knows what they will decide.  Things work extremely slow, political-wise, here in DC.  The government has its own time schedule.

But I did receive an email this afternoon, while I was at work, with the photo of Donald Rumsfeld and me.  So I am pleased to add it below.  This has already been an exceptional summer for me, and I want to thank Mardy and Grace once again!!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Posted 1 year, 10 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 35 minutes ago

Wow, what a week! Yes, I did attend the Presidential Lecture Series on Monday, where the Ambassador from India spoke on India and it’s relationship with the United States. And I also sat in on a lecture presented by Kaplan on graduate school applications. Basically, I knew most of the information, and they were just trying to get us to sign up with them to take advantage of their 15% off discount for TWC students. I am interested in taking the GRE/GMAT but have a lot on my plate at the moment!

The big event of the week was that I attended the Pentagon Memorial Groundbreaking Ceremony June 15th at 1:30 p.m. where Jim Laychak and Donald Rumsfeld spoke. And I got to see Condoleezza Rice up close. But I also got to shake Donald Rumsfeld’s hand!! And he suggested we take a picture, so I will be posting that photo when I receive it.

Basically, after that, my summer was completed! Everything else is all downhill from here!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Posted 1 year, 11 months, 17 hours, 58 minutes ago

And now starts the forum madness!! From here on out, I will be meeting weekly to listen to Presidential and Congressional Lectures given by many different people. On Monday, I am attending a Graduate School Admissions Seminar and a Presidential Lecture given by Ambassador Ronen Sen (India) at the Department of the Interior.

This weekend, my boyfriend and I visited the Georgetown area. We went to the National Cathedral and witnessed a wedding. The cathedral was beautiful!! And the weather was perfect for strolling through Olmsted Forest and the Bishop’s Gardens. I was disappointed that I had forgotten my camera in my apartment.

We later visited Georgetown University. It is so close to the main drag, but yet secluded by quiet neighborhoods. The actual classrooms, which I snuck a look at, were normal-looking rooms, and I was amazed to see that Western seemed extremely more modern and advanced. These buildings were built a long time ago and were probably the same classrooms that were taught in decades and decades ago.

The Potomac boardwalk was very enjoyable as well. We ate right on the river and watched all the airplanes and “United States of America” helicopters fly by.

Last week, I was still settling into my job and getting more and more projects. I was actually busy by Friday, so I know it only gets worse from here on! Another busy summer!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Posted 1 year, 11 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 15 minutes ago

These are the photos I promised.  We watched the Memorial Day procession on CNN and went to Arlington Cemetery.  The metro was packed with all the people leaving the cemetery after the President had left.

This is the Tomb of the Unknowns:

This is the Women’s Memorial:

This is the 101st Airborne Division on Memorial Drive:

Yesterday, we watched the play “Pericles.” It was put on by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park.  It was excellent.  I believe this was the last weekend, so I was extremely glad to go (plus it was free!).

Now I have to start getting ready for my second week.  I have to type up my weekly journal and submit my Learning Objectives Statement, both due tomorrow, and I have to organize my evening research class’s idea for my paper.  Since I will be working on a $35 million Mass Transit Project which deals with the metro and bus system, I have chosen to write my paper on the metro system.  It is extremely interesting, and I hope to learn more about it.  I am presenting my idea on Wednesday and naming my audience, what they will learn, and why my research is important.  So as usual, I have a lot of work to do!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Posted 1 year, 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes ago

Just want to thank Mardy Ashe and Grace Allen for helping me find and obtain this internship! I don’t know if I could have picked a harder internship! Seriously, there is almost no time for me to sleep at night!

I’m not sure exactly all I am allowed to disclose about my internship… so I will be vague. It is extremely overwhelming, both in a good and bad way.

First, the good: I am actually working inside the Pentagon! It is so amazing, walking down the many halls, getting to know my way around. And let me just tell you, the bathrooms weren’t as cool as I had heard! And the Pentagon is like a city all by itself! I have never seen so many military people in all of my life! I feel so safe! But for those of you who watch movies or play video games, I am going to compare the Pentagon to, don’t laugh or get mad, Racoon City in Resident Evil! It is something unlike anything I have ever seen. By the way, tours are available, but you must make reservations three weeks in advance (from what this tourist told me).

Second, the bad: I have so much other work besides just my 36-hour work week! Each Monday at noon, I have to attend a Presidential Lecture Series, and write papers on two of them, and also attend all of the Congressional Speaker Series events. Then, on Wednesday nights, I have a 3 hour class at Marymount University. I was in a class that matched my International Business major, but after last night, there was just no way I could keep up with that professor (who wanted us to buy a book, read it, talk in class about it, take a midterm and final on it, write a “short essay” research paper ten pages long on corporate marketing operations worldwide, give a ten minute presentation on a current issue related to the world market environment, watch two videos each class and discuss them, while reading “The Economist” and “The World is Flat"). Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to be able to take this class because I am totally into these topics… but I have absolutely no time to do it! So I switched to a research class instead. But it doesn’t stop there! I have to volunteer at civic organizations and events for a minimum of five hours, and write a portfolio that is a small book, consisting of seven components: my resume, a learning objectives statement, an internship defense letter, an informational interview, the Washington forum analysis, my service learning, and my writing samples and creative projects. So I am extremely glad I got out of the class of death before it was too late!

After working all day, I went to class and got home to eat dinner after ten o’clock! By the time I got to bed it was after 12 am, and I wake up at 5:45 am each morning to catch the bus to be to work at 7 am! Crazy! I don’t think I have pushed myself this hard ever before in my whole life!

But other than that, I am here in DC, living the dream, going to school, making it happen. Each day is a new adventure and I have met the coolest people. I have not visited any tourist attraction except Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day, I have been so busy!

I will post the photos I took on Memorial Day over the weekend, so visit next week!