A Good and Relaxing Week!

Well, after the first couple of weeks of learning how things work at my internship, things have started to pick up. The ongoing debate of the stimulus bill has been the big news at work and of course around the country. I decided to write and put together my first news story over the stimulus deal and I had the chance to shoot it right outside the White House. So I hope to post a video of that in my next blog. Still yet, to see President Obama though; he’s in Arizona at the moment.

--that's a lot of money-->

For the Washington Center, all interns had to attend the Civic Engagement fair. The purpose of the fair is to learn about various volunteering organizations and issues in society that may be of interest. I chose to volunteer for the HIV/AIDS walk awareness organization in efforts to raise the HIV/AIDS awareness in the community. I also will be volunteering for the Pro-Choice America organization, which is an organization that advocates for privacy and women’s rights to choose. There’s a variety of volunteering organizations that I’ll try to participate in for the experience

(The future looks bright!) (Erica is on the move!)

My weekend was good and relaxing at the same time. I finally had time to slow down, and catch up with some homework assignments, get some much needed sleep and do some cleaning. Interns didn’t have to work on Presidents day, so me and a couple friends took a trip to the Ford’s Theatre, which has been renovated and reopened a few days ago. It’s a historic theatre, used for staged performances and is the place that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in. We were told that after Lincoln was shot, he was carried to a house across the street, which he later died in. We were able to get a tour of the actual site.

Inside Ford's Theatre

(Inside where Lincoln died)

Well I don’t have much for this blog, so I’ll add more pictures of the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Antiques that were in the same spot Lincoln left it

The Roomies

Capitol Hill

(The Treasury Department)

(Leaving the White House.... Cheese!)
Quote of the week: "Life is like a slide show"

A Small Case of Potomac Fever

This week has been amazing. Here’s a quick overview:

Monday February 2-

This was the first day of my internship. I work at what is formerly ITAA, but is now known as TechAmerica. Wanting to make a good impression, my roommate Erica (who is working with me, living with me, and taking the same class as me… so we will be attached at the hip this semester) and I arrived about a half hour early, after a brisk 15 minute walk. That’s right, we don’t even have to get onto public transportation to get to work. When our bosses arrived, they decided to go ahead and throw us headfirst into their daily tasks. Within an hour, we were going to a meeting regarding the Buy American clause within the stimulus package. In the afternoon we had a conference call, and the rest of the day, we were pretty much given a short brief of the items in the stimulus package that we were going to be concerned with. After the first day, I was feeling very confident about working with TechAmerica.

Tuesday February 3-

I started the day off early. There was a meeting with the Department of Defense committee, so our company had a cab pick me up from my apartment. We went to the “Tower Club” which is a fancy meeting room in Vienna, VA. If you don’t believe me that it was a sight, then look at the pictures from the bathroom:

These meetings are amazing ways to network in the city. At the beginning of the semester, The Washington Center gives you a set of business cards. By the time I am writing this, I have already almost run out. I have just ordered personal business cards off of Vista Print (www.vistaprint.com). They have sets of free cards in which you just have to pay shipping. When mine come in the mail, I will be sure to post a picture.

Wednesday, February 4-

Wednesdays are going to be long days… I can tell already. I go to work at 9am, and don’t get out of class at night until after 9pm. This day in particular was very long. There was another meeting across town, so a cab picked me up at 7:45 am. This was a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security Committee. I worked until about 5pm, when I went out to a place that had free finger food before my class. Class started at 6:30 across town, and lasted until 9:45. I am extremely excited for my class this semester. It is Women, Politics, and Public Policy, taught by Dr. Sherman—founder of the Women in Public Policy program at UMASS. She is also currently married to former Oklahoma Congressman Mickey Edwards. She is a fascinating woman, and although there will be a lot of work, it will be worth it.
Erica (co-intern) and I went to lunch with our bosses. Thursday and Friday there is a policy retreat in Annapolis, MD. We were not expecting to go, but apparently there were a few last minute cancellations, so there were 3 extra rooms booked. We got to take their place!

Thursday and Friday February 5 &6—

These days were filled with meetings at a gorgeous hotel. See pictures of my room:

Also, we had approximately two hours to ourselves to tour the town. First we went downtown and found several charming little places, as well as a river dock. Also, we made our way to the Naval Academy, which was absolutely gorgeous.


I would love to take another trip out to Annapolis just to tour the city.

After returning home on Friday, I went out with some new friends, and joined up with Erica (the other RSU Blogger from D.C.)

Saturday and Sunday February 7 & 8-

This weekend, I spent some time around the monuments.

This is a view of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset.

Jefferson Memorial at Sunset:

The Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial… enchanting:

My Roomate Emily and me at the Whitehouse:

The back side of the Whitehouse! See the people talking there? That is actually President Obama in the white shirt on the left. See the zoomed in picture below:
On Sunday, I went to the Basilica with two of my roommates. This church is absolutely beautiful.

Monday February 10—

There was programming with The Washington Center today, along with a tour of the Capitol building, so I was only at work for a short period of time. The Capitol tour was interesting, but I would have loved to see more. After that there was a civic engagement fair. After the fair, I went to the Senate chambers with some fellow interns, hoping to see the vote on the stimulus package. Although they postponed the voting, it was a site to see. I have never seen so many important faces in one room. One interesting fact about going to watch the Senate, is that you have to check anything that is electronic or questionable at a desk before you enter. I had a pair of walking shoes in my purse that they made me check in!

Tuesday, February 11—

What a long day! Throughout the day, there were assignments and small projects to be completed. After work, there was a merger reception held in the Capitol. This was a reception for the branding of TechAmerica and a celebration of its roots from ITAA and AeA. It was essentially a 12 hour work day, and I hadn’t yet finished my homework for class on Wednesday.

Wednesday February 12—

I finally did 'intern' work today. I made coffee, and helped to set up a board room for a meeting. I am so glad that my place of employment doesn’t have us doing things like this too terribly often. I hear horror stories of people working for Senators and Representatives who just answer phone calls and respond to emails. I truly feel I am getting a well rounded experience.
One interesting discussion we had tonight in class regarded the role of women in high power positions in America. See this link in the Washington Post for an interesting piece: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/10/AR2009021002398.html?referrer=emailarticle

Thursday, February 13-

Today was one of the first days that I have been able to catch my breath. This city is truly charming, and I find myself developing what is called ‘Potomac Fever’. I can’t wait for the rest of my weeks here.

Happy 200th Birthday to President Lincoln and Charles Darwin!

Candice

P.S. If you want to see more pictures of my adventures, here's a link to my facebook photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30223941&l=841c5&id=92401032v

I Am Loving It!

The first day of work was basically an introduction to everything. My supervisor gave a tour of the office building, introduced me to other coworkers, gave insight on what the company is about and informed me of my responsibilities while interning at Tribune. I couldn’t wait to jump into things and get started. Before leaving work, I made my time schedule for the next two weeks. My supervisor is flexible so my time schedule fits to my interest. For the rest of the week, my time was spent learning about the editing systems on the computer, reading through the news wires, logging and sound biting, and getting familiar with my new coworkers and their names. Throughout the week, the big discussion has been about President Obama’s stimulus bill package proposal.

Thursday, I began my night class: Media, Ethics and the Movies. After a brief class discussion we watched a movie called “The Front Page”. It’s a funny look into the newspaper business, where journalist will do about anything to make the front page. Our assignment was to find out the ethical issues throughout the movie. Thursday’s will be my longest days with work in the day, and class at night.
Friday, I was able to meet up with Candice and her friends. We had a great night out in the town.




Saturday, my friend Jasmine and I plans were to go to the African American museum, but by the time we arrived, the museum was closed. So from there we took a walk up and down U Street. U Street is an historic area known for its music and culture of the African American community. After a couple of hours, we decided to eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It’ a restaurant known for its chili dogs, half smokes and milkshakes. The line outside of Ben’s was long and around the corner. We met a woman by the name of Dr. Valentine, a DC native. She was pretty known around the area, so by the time we got to the door we were served immediately. I was amazed by the whole place because so many famous people have eaten here and more recently, President Obama. Let me tell you, the food was delicious and affordable! To top it off, Dr. Valentine paid for our food…. So nice of her. We ended up trading business cards with her; she had connects to a television station called TV ONE. So the networking process begins.

Sunday was also a good day too. My roommates and I went to few museums near the National Mall area. The weather was actually feeling nice, a good day for sightseeing. First, we went to the National Air and Space museum and then we went to a couple Art Gallery museums. Later that day I met with my advisor and other interns in the communications program for dinner, at a fast food restaurant called El Pollo Rico. They mainly serve two things: chicken and fries…. Oh and cole slaw if you want it. You get to chose from a whole, half or a quarter of chicken… The only place I’ve been to, with just that on the menu. But the food is really good, filling and affordable!

Unfortunately, I stayed up really late Sunday, catching up on my homework. One of my goals is to keep procrastination to a minimum…. But I had a great week!

My quote of the week:
“Carpe Diem”

Signing off,
Erica

Ooooh I can't believe it!

Wednesday, January 28th
The day had finally arrived and I couldn’t wait to get started. My flight was scheduled for 7:00 a.m. but because of the rain, ice and snow in the DC area, we were delayed for about an hour. I made it to Baltimore at about 1:00 p.m. and took a shuttle bus to my new residence for the semester. The apartments are called Grosvenor Tower, located in North Bethesda, Maryland. After checking into my apartment, I met my new roommate, Brittany. She’s from Boston and goes to school at the University of Massachusetts. She’s really nice and helpful in getting me familiar with the area. Later that day, there was a building meeting for all the TWC students. I made some friends that attend Delaware State University; we’re in the same program (Media & Communications) and class together. After a long day, I was still excited because I couldn’t believe that I was actually here and couldn’t wait for the next day.

Thursday, January 29th
The first day of orientation for all the media & comm. interns. Taking the train is common for people in the DC area. On the way to orientation it was my first time in a subway and riding on a train. I found out pretty quickly to stand to the right when using the escalators because people will just about run you over, trying to get by. Orientation went pretty good and didn’t last too long. I met a guy from Korea; he said his flight to DC was 24 hours and cost $1,500. Wooooow! I met my second roommate, she’s also from Korea. It’s been interesting discussing each others way of life. That evening I went out to eat with my roommate Brittany and some friends in the political leadership program. I had a great time getting to know everyone and of course talking about politics.

Friday, January 30th
The second day of orientation was for all TWC interns. I really enjoyed orientation today. There were some great guest speakers who were motivational. There were 5 things that I learned from them to keep in mind while I’m in here in DC. 1. Never say the B-word… bored; because there will always be something to do. 2. Becoming an active learner 3. How to make what I’ve learned work and impact myself. 4. Not sweating the small stuff and looking at the big picture; understanding what I’m really here for. 5. Consider everything good/bad as an experience; document and reflect. I took note and plan on applying this advice to help make my DC experience even more enjoyable. After orientation I took a trip to Tribune Broadcasting, so I’ll be able to know my way to work on Monday.

Saturday, January 31st

What a day! It began with a trip to downtown DC. I went with a friend I met from Florida, named Jasmine. We’re in the same program and class. We first stopped into the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Next, we went to the Washington Monument. The view was amazing. Then we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. It was breath-taking and gave me chills looking at the huge statue of Abraham Lincoln, and knowing that MLK gave his I have a Dream speech at this very location; and also how this same area was filled with people from all over, to see the inauguration of President Obama. After taking plenty of pictures we headed back to the apartment.

Well, tomorrow is the Super bowl so I’m sure it will be a fun day. Go Steelers!

Quotes from orientation:
“To those whom much have been given; much is expected.”
“You learn from failures, not doing well, rather than having an easy coast to the finish line.”

Signing out,
Erica