And so it begins...

Just as a heads up, this first blog is a long one! The rest should not be this long.

So far, I love the District. It is full of life and diversity. You can tell that it is an international icon and hub for business and travel. Getting here was quite the adventure.

I believe it is my first time flying completely alone; I have traveled alone and without parents before, but not quite like this. I had to get up at the crack of 4 oon Sunday morning, which was terrible since I was wide awake until about 1:30 and excited like a little kid on Christmas Eve; this time, however, I did not jump on my parents bed and wake them up. I have been trying to quit energy drinks, but I figured I would allow myself one that morning (and the two previous days under the banner of “celebratory” drinks}. Got through check-in, security, and boarding just fine, and had a short flight to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. I made it to my second flight with no trouble. My sister and I got good at what we call “human parkour,” which just means weaving in and out of crowds in malls and densely travelled areas; I have used that skill a lot on this trip.

Anyhow, I got on the flight, which was about two and a half hours. I arrived in Reagan National Airport, picked up my luggage, and began my strenuous commute from the airport to my residence in Silver Spring, MD. I figured out, with the help of the station manager, how to purchase my Metro ticket and where to go. I have done some traveling to other places with Metro systems, so it was fairly easy to get down. I accidently got on the wrong Metro line, but I found out that if I stayed on long enough, I could switch to the Red Line, which was what I would have to get on from the line I meant to get on, so it wasn’t really that bad of a mistake. I arrived at the Silver Spring Metro and followed the directions to the Solaire Housing Complex, where I am staying, in an email I received. It was about a half-mile walk, mostly uphill. Lugging a hanging bag, suitcase, and school bag up hill in slushy water with a thick overcoat on over a blazer and nice clothes was a bit of a challenge.

I got there, got things squared away with my room, walked around a bit, grabbed some coffee, and met my roommate. So far I just have one. My other ones may or may not arrive. One is supposed to get here sometime between now and Sunday, which is quite the gap. Sean, the roommate here is pretty cool! He is from South Carolina; a group of 16 came from his university. Many of them live in these apartments, so I have gotten to know a few. The rest live at the primary housing location, which also is the place where the classes and meetings are held. That is where I have been these past two days.

Monday was an overall orientation. It was pretty typical. There are around 430 interns total representing 40 states and 17 countries. We had to sit in on different workshops and information sessions about our programs and different civic engagements. I will more than likely be working with veterans who have mental health issues for that; the civic engagement project is essentially just volunteering. The one with the vets fits in well for my degree, psychology, and my internship, which is at the Department of Veteran Affairs, Patient Centered Care to be more specific. I will get to that later. Wednesday afternoon was an open house with workshops, so I went and grabbed some grub. On my way out, I ran into this Chinese foreign exchange student who was looking for food as well, so her and I went to a little café! It an interesting experience eating lunch one-on-one with someone I have never met before, let alone someone from a different country. She was really cool, though. It was a neat experience. After that, we went back for more orientation stuff.

Tuesday consisted of meeting with my program, which is Science, Technology, and Society. We just had a more program specific orientation and looked at what the next 15 weeks will be like. The work shouldn’t be too hard. The group is one of the smallest of The Washington Center with only about 20 people. Our advisor, Tiffani, ordered some food for us from California Tortilla, which was delightful! Needless to say, I chowed down on that stuff. We got out about 12:30 and had the rest of the day off, so I explored the Silver Spring area. A decent mall, hotel, restaurants, and shopping area are within walking distance to my apartment, which will be very nice.

Wednesday was actually my first day at my internship. I left my place at 7:45, hopped on the Metro, got off at the right station, got on a shuttle to the VA, and got there right at 8:30, which is when I am supposed to be there. It worked out well. My supervisor, Diane, is great. She is very laid-back, knowledgeable, and a skilled supervisor and boss. The other intern, Lauryn, is really cool! I am extremely excited to work with them both.

What I will be doing is pretty cool. We will be working on different programs, like a Washington VA app for smart phones, incentive and reward programs, patient advocacy, and just making sure the veterans are comfortable and well taken care of. Today I had the pleasure of meeting a 105-year-old WWII vet who was one of the first African-American females admitted into the armed forces. She was delegated the task of sorting out a mail room full to the ceiling of letters to soldiers in Europe; her commanding officer said it should take her six months, but she did it in three. It was a very surreal, humbling experience. She was a spunky, one-legged lady who dresses up and looks nice everyday because she wants to live life to the fullest and because she “just might meet a young, charming man and wants to look good” she said. I am so honored and thankful for this opportunity to work for and serve those who have been injured serving and fighting for my rights, liberties, and freedom. The rest of my first day was dwarfed in comparison to that experience. I just did some paper work, set up my office, got acquainted with the building and personnel, and took a tuberculosis test, which means I had Thursday off. Thursday night, however, I had my first class. I will be taking Forensic Psychology whilst here; I’m pretty excited about it! I don’t think it will be too tough.

Friday was my first real day at the VA. I got some paper work for security and clearance stuff taken care of, helped with some tasks, and had the privilege of attending the medical staff’s grand rounds at noon! That was quite the treat. A surgeon did a presentation on Narrative Medicine, which is an up-and-coming style of practicing medicine. Narrative Medicine pretty much just means that the patients tell their story and talk for a time without interruption while the doctors make notes. Essentially, it is about doctors spending more times listening and getting to know the patient to see if there is anything about their lives that might add to the problem. It sounds like it should already be a common practice, but when doctors are making their rounds in hospitals and clinics, two minutes of listening seems like a long time. One thing that was brought up that I found interesting is how they said that being required to fill out questionnaires and paper work on their computers while seeing the patient takes away time and makes it harder to do that. I believe the Affordable Healthcare Act makes it so that the doctors have to fill out certain things while seeing the patients. It will be interesting to learn more about Obamacare since I do not know that much. Getting the perspective of doctors and people who work in the healthcare filed will be interesting too.

My weekend was quite fun! I met up with an old friend Friday night. We went to Jumbo Slice pizza; the name was no lie. The slices were HUGE!!!! You could put pretty much anything on it, and it was bigger than a personal-pan pizza, but it was a slice. My mind was blown. After that, my friend and I went to a latin-jazz club, which was incredible! The cover charge was only $5. The band consisted of a pianist, a bassist, and four percussionists who took turns playing the congas, timbales, bongos, and small instruments like maracas and guiro. Being a drummer and novice hand percussionist, I was in heaven. The environment was very exciting with people salsa dancing everywhere, and the space was very warm and intimate. I will most certainly be going there more often. Saturday was mostly filled with going to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, food, and watching some shows with my old friend. On Sunday, I went grocery shopping, chilled, and watched the Super-Bowl!

So far, my adventure has been great. It feels like it has been a month already, and in reality, it has just been a week. I will admit that for the first few days, I kind of wished I had just taken classes at RSU; that was mainly because it was cold and dreary, and because I had not made any friends yet. But now things are looking up! I feel like this will be a fantastic opportunity for me to learn office etiquette, better my verbal and written communication skills, advance my knowledge in several areas, and help those who have served my country. Be sure to keep an eye out for my next blog! I will try to blog consistently at least once a week.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend Himself

Getting Closer!

I have had another amazing week in DC! I probably say that every time I post but it's the God Honest Truth. We had an awesome C-Span class on Monday and I was able to attend three separate events which were equally awesome. Before I share any related details, please indulge me for a moment as I share my feelings on leaving TWC.

I have somewhat of a bittersweet feeling about going home next Saturday. Sweet because I am coming home to my amazing wife, who I have missed dearly. Bitter because of a nagging question I have. How do I take full advantage of the contacts I have made at the RNC and NRCC when I am finally able to enter the job market, which is still a year away! Here's how it plays out in my head.

I return to Oklahoma, after leaving a positive impression with those who could facilitate a political job in Washington, which is of course my ultimate dream. Yet, when I finally finish school next fall, Good Lord Willing, I no longer have immediate access to these gatekeepers. I will likely not even be able to get a return phone call.

"Trevor who? Take a message, I'm busy." Back to the machine shop and power plants I go, like an old high school quarterback, constantly imagining what could of been. I know this is somewhat dramatic and that I am responsible for my future. I guess I always try and prepare for the worst and strive for the best.

Okay, I'm done now, on to the past weeks events.

As I mentioned previously, some of us attended a round-table discussion held at The Aspen Institute. It was really awesome. While I was there, I was able to meet Mickey Edwards. I am still not positive who Mr. Edwards actually is but he wrote for a couple of papers in Oklahoma and seems like a big deal.

Here is another cool pic from an event I was able to attend at Charlie Palmer Steak. It was the National Journal's Cook Political Preview. That is me and Charlie. The really neat thing is that all these events are free.

I am getting ready to turn in my TWC portfolio and final research paper for the C-SPAN class, the apartment building is super busy and the computer lab looks like a war zone! It is full all hours of the day with people rushing to finish their projects. I am starting to get sad now, so I better finish this post before I get tear stains on it.

Here is another pretty picture.....

Here We Go

Me and my buddy Chuck Todd from NBC News

I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving day break, I know I did. My wonderful wife and the rest of her family all came to stay with me over the break. We all ventured into Virginia to see the sites. Here is how it went down.


On Friday we rented a Ford Flex, which was pretty cool, and drove to Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate. I could not believe the amount of people there, it was like going to Disney World. It was a huge complex and was very interesting. We did not tour his home though, as I was not able to convince anyone else to stand in that line.



We then went to the home of our nation's third president and personal hero of mine, Thomas Jefferson. It was awesome!

The week before last I was extremely busy with the Republican National Committee's Campaign Management College. We would start class at 8:00 am and finished up with our homework in the evening at around midnight. The final day I arrived at eight in the morning and did not leave until noon the next day. I do not think anyone slept that night. We had to write a complete Campaign Plan and present it to a panel of judges, which was really neat because they provided us with lots of good feedback.


I started my class up again on Monday at the C-Span building. Our guest was Tiffany Dufu who works at the White House. It will air in two weeks on the C-Span network and I was able to ask a lot of questions. I really enjoyed her.

Our evening session was held at George Washington University in the School of Media and Public Affairs. They hosted a discussion with Chuck Todd, who is the White House correspondent for NBC news. I was able to get in the first question at the event, naturally asking him why the media is scared to cover the Ron Paul campaign. I was not to thrilled with his answer, but until I hear someone tell me that they have all agreed to not cover him because they are afraid of his "On with Liberty" message, I guess I never will be.


On Friday of this week I am going to the Bipartisan Policy Center for a round-table discussion with the president of the Pew Research Center, a columnist from The Washington Post, and the editor of the Atlantic-Journal Constitution. My Professor, Mr. Steve Scully, was able to purchase tickets for four of his students and I was fortunate enough to receive one of them. Plus, a buffet lunch will be served which should be really tasty!


On Monday morning of next week I get to attend a discussion with Charlie Cook, who is a National Journal political analyst and editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report. He plans to discuss the current political environment, his outlook on the 2012 presidential race and the challenges and opportunities he sees for the major candidates moving forward. It should be really cool.


I'll let you know how it goes!

Words of Wisdom: Getting Your Ideal Internship

Fox News asking for my take on Herman Cain's Speech at the National Press Club

Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to share my experiences with future TWC interns regarding how TWC Program works. The following is an account detailing how I was able to land my “dream” internship. It’s some very basic tips that I feel can be of use to future interns when they first navigate this amazing opportunity.

When I first filled out my TWC packet, they asked me to list a few organizations I hoped to intern with. From the beginning, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was always at the top of that list. The NRCC is the “nerve center” of the Republican Party’s campaigning operation for the House of Representatives. Since I know that working on a federal level campaign is one of my short term goals, this is as good an internship as it could get.

My first piece of advice to future interns is to have a general idea of what you want to do professionally, before the process begins. TWC will send your resume packet to sites they think may interest you, but they are extremely busy and cannot read your mind. Reach out and ensure they know where you want to end up exactly, and then follow up with calls and emails until you know your resume was sent to those locations.

I emailed TWC a list of House and Senate members that I would have liked to intern with, plus some other organizations, and then called to check that my packet was sent to them. My experience with the process was nerve racking, but my persistence paid off.

In July, I began doing phone interviews with various offices and organizations. One was with an Arizona Congressman’s office; working in Congress was my second “dream” internship site. I interviewed that morning over the phone. At the end, I was told they had twelve more people to interview and I might hear back. I was then offered the position that afternoon.

I attributed this, and the six other offers I eventually received, to the multiple mock interviews Kimberly Lopez conducted with me in the career services office at Rogers State. TWC offered a class by telephone-conference over the summer as well: How to Conduct Effective Phone Interviews. Take advantage of these resources.

Anyway, I did a few more interviews, some offered, some never called back, and some I declined.

The AZ Congressional offer was the only one, thus far, I had seriously considered. What if I turned it down and no more offers came along? Where else did they send my resume? What about the NRCC? These questions were all going through my head in early August. My advice in this area is to let TWC know exactly what you want and bug them until your satisfied.

I declined the AZ offer thinking that if I was going to intern in the House, I should do it with a member from Oklahoma. TWC actually guaranteed they would place me with an OK office after I called to express my concerns. An offer did come and I accepted, even though it wasn’t the NRCC, but time was running short and I had gotten my second choice.

The second week of August I was listed as “placed” by TWC. Their effort on my behalf was completed and I was complacent. Then the NRCC call came, asking for a good time to contact me for an interview. I emailed my available times and a message about how passionate I was to intern with them; always include a few lines on what a great intern you would be. The next week came and went, with no call! What to do, I wondered?

Email them again! I reminded them of their interview offer, another set of times for the next week, and another note about how great an asset I would be. Getting no reply I was disappointed, but at least I had gotten my second choice, interning with Congress.

Out of the blue the following week, I got the NRCC call and did an interview; I was completely unprepared and didn’t feel great about my performance. I sent a follow up email that evening, listing what an asset I could be if offered the position. They offered and I accepted!

It all came down to letting TWC know what I wanted and following up with them. The same goes for everyone else who may have a hand in determining where you end up. It has been my experience that most everyone will go out of their way to help you, just don’t be afraid to ask!

Me & My Buddy Herman

I felt the need to post this real quick, more to follow.................

Changing Directions: Informative and Informational Posts Upcoming

In an effort to provide this blog more direction, usefulness, and frequency, I am going to begin detailing what the entire TWC program entails, start to finish. My inspiration for doing so came Tuesday of this past week, when I became absolutely, 100%, would not change a thing satisfied with every aspect of my experience thus far. I hope my subsequent posts will be a helpful reference for future TWC interns, as each will detail what has worked for me. Bottom line, be proactive. But first, what have I been up to?

I finally started to work on my own professional development, outside of the TWC program. I feel like if someone sat me down on day one and said, “This is what you should be doing,” I would not have wasted the first month and a half being so timid. Anyway, last Friday I went in to an Oklahoma Congressional office and asked to speak with their Chief of Staff. I wanted to impress upon them how motivated I was to be part of a Congressional Campaign next year, but was told they were busy and I left with a business card. A few emails later landed me an informational interview on Monday of this week. We spoke about possible options and I left much better informed and optimistic about my possibilities

I also made some inroads with Headcount. They are an organization which conducts voter registration drives at concert events across the country. I volunteered to help and will be doing so in the near future.

I also will be a volunteer at the 30th annual Turkish-American Business Council event, being held at the Ritz-Carlton in DC. Why not, I thought, it sounded pretty interesting and I should be able to meet some very interesting people.

On Tuesday I was able to move from the finance department over to the political department in the NRCC. This is where I have supposed to of been all along, I can feel the intensity in the room and it’s very refreshing. Right now I am compiling information on all the Republican Candidates for House seats across the country. It is a really interesting project and I love going to work every day. This is the event that put my TWC experience into the “it doesn’t get any better than this” category.

I will provide details on how I think future TWC interns can achieve this as well in the coming days, beginning with TWC internship placement process.

PS: Did anyone else feel embarresed for Rick Perry in the last debate like I did? I don't really like or dislike the guy all that much, but I did find myself feeling sorry for him. I mean, what do you say to him when he comes off the stage after something like that if your a consultant? Maybe......"say the sentence in your head first, then, when you feel confident in the delivery, write it down and read the words." I don't know who's telling him to engage Romney like that but keep up the good prep work!

Oh one last thing, VOTE RON PAUL 2012!

Goodness Gracious!

I have had another amazing week. I was able to get out of the city for a while, receive some amazing training, and I met my personal hero who just happens to be our nation’s next President. Things are going great!

Last Saturday I had a case of the blues. My wife had gone home and I was content to just sit and sulk, but I remembered that I had secured a spot on the bus to Atlantic City for the day. TWC had put the trip together and around 40 or so interns were lucky enough to go. We left at 8:00 am and got home at around 11:00 pm. I had no idea it was a 4-hour drive, but it was a nice change of scenery. I do not enjoy gambling so much but I was able to get a haircut and eat some crab cakes, so I ended up having a good time.

Beginning last Monday, I and another intern from the NRCC started a week long Campaign Manager School that was conducted by The Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia. There were around 30 or so political activist from across the country in attendance, which made it a great networking opportunity.

I can definitely say that I was completely ignorant of what a well-run, legitimate political campaign looks like and needs to have to win. We had experts ranging from Congressional Chiefs of Staff, who had previously run high-dollar campaigns, to industry leaders dealing in everything from direct mail to the newest internet ads giving lectures.

We also had a 3-hour class which was titled: Advanced New Media Workshop. It mostly dealt with how to effectively manage a candidates Facebook and Twitter accounts. It is all a little overwhelming right now, but I have another Campaign Manager School in November that is being conducted by the Republican National Committee. It is supposed to be more hands on with many situational exercises. I’ll do my best to hone my skills then.

On Wednesday of last week, I met Congressman Ron Paul who is a candidate for President! He was in town for a lunch which was held at the National Press Club. My Professor Steve Scully knew the lady who was coordinating the event, and was able to get me and 3 other students in, to stand in the back during his speech and the question and answer segment which followed.



The day got progressively better which each passing hour though. At around 10:00 am we got an email from Steve indicating his friend was able to get us all tickets to the lunch. Then, almost 30 minutes after that great news, another email arrived. We were now being allowed to participate in the VIP reception being held prior to the lunch with Rep. Paul.

Throughout this time we all met the Congressman, took multiple pictures with him, spoke with him individually, and I was able to get my pocket Constitution signed. It goes without saying that I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day. I even made a side trip to the National Archives, on the way back to my campaign class, to see the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Just caught up in the moment I guess.

Next week it’s back to my internship at the NRCC. So far there isn’t anything that really stands out about the week. But if this last one is any guide, I know that could change on a whim!