It keeps getting better

Well, even though the following actually happened 2 weeks ago, I still have to write about it. So, the 1st full week in October was hands down the best I've had since being out here in D.C. I Started out by going to the Supreme Court on the Monday, the 6th, because I knew Dr. Clayton would beat me if I was not there on the first day the Court began hearing cases. It was funny because there was a group of protesters in the front with red tape over their mouths, so when I asked a lady who worked there what they were protesting, she told me they're always there and they protest everything. Some people have too much time on their hands!

The next day was the highlight of my week. I went to an army convention after learning that General Petraeus was going to be speaking and being a big admirer of his, it was important to me to be able to hear him speak. Before hearing General Petraeus speak, I also met a couple of Hollywood actors who were signing autographs at the convention. It was well worth the wait to meet R. Lee Ermey, a Marine legend who has his own show called "Mail Call" on The History Channel, he signed my October issue of Leatherneck magazine. I also met comedian/actor Dennis Miller, who came across as one of the coolest guys on the planet, super nice and sincere.

It was finally time to go hear the General speak and I waited in line for about 30-40 minutes, but again, well worth the wait because I sat 4 rows away from the podium. The lecture was about the current state of Iraq, the progress that has been made and what challenges lie ahead. The General is a very good speaker, who started out with some really funny Chuck Norris jokes. My favorite was- "Chuck Norris doesn't breathe, he holds oxygen hostage." The lecture lasted for about 45 minutes and afterwards the General took pictures and shook hands with members of the audience. I would say that General Petraeus received rock star treatment with the numerous ovations and long line of women wanting to get their picture with him. Of course in the military community he is the equivalent of a rock star. I waited for about 15 minutes until I could shake his hand and introduce myself. In my opinion, General Petraeus is my generation's version of General MacArthur or Eisenhower, an excellent soldier who possesses all of the traits a strong leader needs.

Obviously, meeting General Petraeus was the highlight of my week, but I was able to end the week on a great note when I went to Atlantic City for the day on Saturday. I am not a card player, but I can sometimes be a skilled or lucky slot machine player. On Saturday, I was just really lucky, because I took home about $250 and ran, not walked out of the casino! I spent the rest of the day walking along the boardwalk, taking pictures, and feasting off the buffet! I've somehow lost 7 pounds since being out here, so I wanted to try and gain some of that weight back. Like I said, it was a good way to end a great week.

some more pics

I wanted to post these pictures from my trip to the Pentagon Memorial last Sunday. That building behind me is the Pentagon, if you could walk through the entire building, you would end up walking over 17 miles! Those are benches with the victims name on them, every victim has their own bench, 184 benches total to honor the lives lost on 9-11 at the Pentagon. You'll notice how the benches are facing opposite directions. That tells the visitors whether the person was on the plane or in the building when they died. Facing away from the Pentagon, like the one right next to me, means the person was in the Pentagon. The memorial is very pretty at night when the sun is going down and there are lights under all the benches as well.

The picture with the bell is a replica of the liberty bell and that was taken at the union station metro stop, which is where I get off to go to work. I've been walking by the bell every day and never knew what it was until my friend went up and took a closer look.

So, I don't think I mentioned that I'm going to Atlantic City on Saturday with a group of TWC interns. The best part is that it's only costing me $10 for my bus ticket. The trip will be an all day event on Saturday, leaving early in the morning and coming back late, so it will be a long day. I'll either be coming back on the bus or in a limo!

Pictures

So, I wanted to start showing some more pictures of what I've been up to since my last post. The picture of me and the the sailor is at the Navy Memorial, which is right across the street from the National Archives. The National Archives was our(my roommates and our neighbors) intended target for the day, but by the time we got there the line was really long. The 2 pics of me is at the WWII memorial, which is probably my favorite out of the all the war memorials, although the Korean War memorial is really good at night.

I also have the picture of my roommates Nathan and Kevin, along with our friend Katie at the Lincoln Memorial. Whether in the day or at night, the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite and I could visit everyday. A very inspirational place. The last picture is at the Albert Einstein Memorial with Katie and our other friend Kim in the picture as well.

I went on a tour of the Pentagon last Thursday, but we were not allowed to take pictures on the tour. However, I did go to the Pentagon Memorial last night and my friend did take pictures so I promise to put those up pretty soon. There is a lot of symbolism in the Pentagon Memorial, it is very interesting.

Today was a very long and busy day. I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record! First, I went to the Supreme Court since the new session began today. I was able to listen to the Locke v. Karass case, which dealt with the 1st and 14th amendment and labor union involvement, very dry stuff for a criminal justice major. I spent more time taking in my surroundings than I did listening to the case. I definitely plan on going back, once is just not enough! After the Supreme Court, I went to the Department of Interior for a lecture by U.S. Representative James Clyburn. Congressman Clyburn, who is the House majority whip, delivered an excellent speech about how to contribute to your surroundings and knowing your role in life. It was one of my favorite speeches that I have heard so far.

Hope I don't jinx my team, but GO TU!! The Harvard of the Midwest is 5-0 and looking great!

Hanging out with Mr. Mayor

Like I said the other day, you never know who you're going to meet. Yesterday, The Washington Center hosted a speaking engagement for Ryan Coonerty, a former TWC alum, who is now the mayor of Santa Cruz, California. The mayor talked about his time in D.C. as an intern and how he ended up in politics. He also gave some really good advice for students considering law school(he went to the University of Virginia law school and reminded us several times that Bobby Kennedy went there as well). Mayor Coonerty said it's okay to go to law school in order to learn a new way of thinking, because you would learn how to break down and analyze everything you read and what people say. But, the downside is that you would turn into the annoying know it all friend!

When Ryan Coonerty was an intern in D.C., he worked at the White House during the Clinton administration and he had plenty of good stories to tell. His girlfriend at the time had a college class with Monica Lewinsky, so he had to dish out some good gossip there(apparently Bill Clinton wasn't the first boss or professor). The mayor was one of the best speakers I've heard in a long time. He talked in a simple laid back way with plenty of good humor. I haven't met a lot of mayors in my life, but I'd be willing to bet that Ryan Coonerty is one of the coolest. So cool in fact, that I had to get my picture taken with him afterwards! Doesn't he look a lot like RSU's own Dr. Woller without a goatee?

You never know who your going to meet

First things first, I've got to congratulate Dr. Carolyn Taylor for being named woman of the year in Oklahoma! It is because of Dr. Taylor, who serves as the liaison for the Washington Center, that I am here in D.C. for the semester.

What an amazing night! I came to work last Tuesday and I had completely forgotten about a dinner that I was supposed to attend that night. I had known about the dinner for 2 weeks, but for whatever reason it had slipped my mind. The dinner was at the Capitol Hill Club, a republican social club located on the House side of the capitol that has been around since the fifties. To make things worse, I was wearing my least favorite suit (just a plain old black suit, very boring). Note to all guys: your shoes and tie should never be worth more than your suit! About the only positive thing I had going for me was that I did not make any plans for that night. I was debating whether or not I wanted to go to the Mets-Nationals game, good thing I didn't.

The dinner was for all the big players in the intelligence business(government and private sector) to be able to hear the House Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Silvestre Reyes speak. It was sort of like a state of the intelligence community speech, what took place over the last year and what the intel. community can expect in the upcoming year. I met congressman Reyes as he was coming in to the room and had the chance to briefly talk to him. Rep. Reyes is a very interesting man, who told us the story of how he helped deliver a baby girl from a woman trying to cross the border by the Rio Grande river and that the woman named the girl America. A very entertaining story! On top of meeting Rep. Reyes, I sat next to a very interesting Colonel in the Air Force who flies the U2 surveillance planes. The Colonel gave me a history lesson on the 5 branches of operation within the military and how the system was created by Napoleon.

Last but not least, I met a person who stood out from the crowd in a major way, he was the only guy with a pony tail and his tie had guitars on it. Not the sort of thing you expect to see at a dinner like this. So, I definitely had to know who he was and he turned out to be Jeff Baxter, a guitarist for Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers(sorry Mom, I didn't get his autograph). After making millions(he told us 7.6 to be exact) in the music business, Mr. Baxter decided to change careers. He now serves as chairman of the civilian advisory board for ballistic missile defense and was also an adviser to members of congress on the House Science Committee.

My adviser at the Potomac Advocates told me on the first day of work that you always have to be prepared in D.C., because you never know who your going to meet and last Tuesday night was a prime example of it.

The days just fly by!

It really seems like it. I had another busy week filled with a lot of interesting work. On Wednesday, I was able to attend a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the situation in Iraq & Afghanistan. The thing I enjoyed about the hearing on top of the good information that came out of it, was that I was sitting in the same room as the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Secretary of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen. My congressman Dan Boren was also there. Both Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen were the witnesses presenting the information.

Thursday was just as cool because I spent half the day on the Senate side of the capitol. Although I didn't see any of the senators, it was still kind of fun going into the offices of big name politicians like Clinton, Biden, Ted Kennedy, and both Oklahoma senators. After work that day, my supervisors took all of the interns to a bar called "Bull feathers" over on the House side of the capitol. The bar is named after a word that Teddy Roosevelt always used and today serves as a popular hangout for House staff members and lobbyists. It's just a place where people can gossip, network, and try to impress the others. Our bosses introduced us to a female Navy pilot who used to fly surveillance planes and now works as an intelligence staff member for the House. She talked to us awhile, gave us her card and offered to give a tour of the capitol building whenever we would like. I've learned very quickly that to be successful in D.C., it is all about who you know and timing. Timing is everything! Of course, those two things could be applied to every city, but you'll see it up close herein the Capitol.

I just got back from the Library of Congress with some friends of mine and was impressed with the architecture inside and exhibits they had inside, especially the part that covered the the start of the United States. Tomorrow (Sunday), I'm going to try and make it up to Baltimore for a baseball game. The only problem is that there is a strong chance of rain. If I don't go to the game then I'll go to the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, maybe start out the day by running on the Capitol Mall and through other parts of D.C.

A long 1st week... it was great!

Well, I started work last Tuesday with the lobbying firm and I already know that it will be a great learning experience. My work duties consist of a lot of researching different military programs for our clients and maintaining a weekly tracker report of what is going on with congress. Last week, congress was still out of session, but they return on this week, so I am expecting a lot more action and some trips to the offices of House and Senate members. My supervisors have been in the political business for awhile, so they have a lot of contacts in DC and have told the interns that we can expect to attend many different networking opportunities. I also learned that my internship will reimburse my metro fare to and from work every month, so that ends up saving me about $150, in addition to $15 a day for lunch( very rare among most internships).
I also started my forensic psychology class last Wednesday and I think it's going to be interesting learning the relationship between psychology and criminal justice.
It rained pretty hard on Friday and most of Saturday, so I wasn't able to do as much sightseeing as I wanted to this weekend. But, I was able to make it to the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial last night. Both memorials were impressive. I think I liked the Jefferson Memorial just a little bit more, because I enjoyed sitting on the steps and looking at the Washington Monument and the other buildings around. You can see the American flag on top of the White House from the steps. After visiting both memorials, I had to go back to the Lincoln Memorial. Anytime I am near the memorial I have to go there. I don't think I mentioned before that when I first visited the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, it marked the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech. There is a marker on the steps to commemorate the speech.
Today, I think my roommates are heading out to the Arlington cemetery. I've been wanting to see it every since I've been here, especially the tomb of the unknown soldier. I'm expecting another busy yet exciting week, so for now that's all I have.