Ok everyone, I just realized that I haven’t updated this thing in like three weeks! Sorry for the delay, it’s just been pretty busy around here and I completely forgot about blogging for a while. At the risk of making this post incredibly long, I’ll try to hit the highlights of the last few weeks and bring you all up to speed on what’s been going on. I’m going to split this post into two to help with the length, so be sure to read Part 1 before reading Part 2. Here it goes:
Well, it’s now March and I’m finding that the excitement of the job has started to wear off a little bit in some ways. We’ve been at work for 2 months now and the internship is in some ways starting to just feel like work. I’ve noticed that it I no longer take time to stare at things like the Capitol Dome or the Supreme Court during my morning walk to the office and I’m starting to adapt to working in the Senate like it’s just a normal part of life. I even found myself impatiently waiting in a security line at the office building one day, thinking about how annoying it was that the “tourists” didn’t know how to keep the line moving efficiently. This is, of course, rather ridiculous considering that I’ve only been here two months myself and am in no way a local. Still, I am adjusting to routine life in DC and am no longer overwhelmed by everything around me. I’m not really sure how I feel about that.
As for work itself, the job is also becoming a little routine. Most of our responsibility revolves around entering scheduling requests into a database and sorting mail. While there are occasional research projects and briefings to provide some excitement, the everyday parts of the job do get a little old sometimes and I find that I have to remind myself of why I wanted to be here. While interning for the Senate really is a great opportunity and I am learning a lot, sometimes it does just feel like work.
The longer I’m in DC, the more I realize just how much I love living in the south. A couple of weeks ago, I attended a briefing for our Health Care LC. She couldn’t attend the briefing, but needed someone to go and bring the information back to her. The briefing happened to include another free lunch, so I of course didn’t mind going. When I got to the room, I took a seat and ate my box lunch while waiting for the briefing to start. People continued flowing in until it became obvious that there were going to be a lot more people than there were seats. As I realized this, an older lady came over to stand in the back of the room next to my seat. I immediately rose and offered it to her, volunteering to stand and let her have the chair. She looked at me like she was surprised, then thanked me and took a seat. I noticed a moment later that she was staring at me, so I smiled back at her. She then asked me, “Son, where are you from?” I replied, “Texas, ma’am.” Much to my humor, she responded “Oh, well that explains it. We have so few gentlemen left up here.” I couldn’t help but be amused by this and it really made me think about the differences between Texas and DC culture. It’s nice to see that Texas still has a reputation for producing gentlemen and I’m glad I could help continue this tradition. Still, it just seems sad to me that an old lady would find it strange for a male youth to give up his chair for her. I guess I think that should just be common behavior no matter what part of the country you’re in.
That Friday, Duncan Currie took all three of the interns to lunch. Duncan is Senator Cornyn’s speechwriter and is a really cool guy. He has a degree in History from Harvard and is a life-long soccer player (even having traveled to Europe to play in school tournaments), so we have plenty in common to talk about. Duncan took us to We the Pizza, which is a great local place that is extremely popular (and it deserves its reputation). During lunch, we got a chance to ask Duncan about his job and get a lot of general questions answered. He told us about his background, how he came to work for the senator and his impressions of the job so far. He’s only worked for Senator Cornyn since December and this is his first job on Capitol Hill, so he’s kind of similar to us interns in some ways. Our office manager told us that every member of the senior staff will be meeting with us at some point during the semester to explain what their job responsibilities are and answer our questions about specific jobs or issues. I’m really impressed that they take time to do this for each class of interns and I think that really says a lot about the quality of the people on Senator Cornyn’s staff. Duncan chose to do his meeting with us over lunch and was even generous enough to pay for us all. Everyone is so nice and helpful in our office and I really like everyone that I work with. I think we probably have one of the best offices on the Hill when it comes to people.
Last Wednesday morning I went with Senator Cornyn to a hearing being held by the Senate Armed Service Committee. The topic of the hearing was an update on the current situation in Syria and the possibilities for U.S. intervention. Testifying before the committee were Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. I was so excited to be in the same room with two of the most influential people in the armed services and found the discussion on Syria to be very informative and interesting. I learned several things that I did not know before about the ongoing crisis there. I also learned a lot about the possibilities for US intervention, including an assessment of the different options we have on the table and the cost/benefit of each option from a strategic viewpoint. For someone like myself, interested in foreign affairs and international relations, this was really a great opportunity and I’m very glad I was invited to attend.
Then on Thursday morning, I went with Kris (another Cornyn intern) to the Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting. Judiciary is the other major committee that Senator Cornyn sits on, so we got to sit up front with the senator’s judiciary staff, right behind the table where the senator’s sit! I have to admit, it does feel pretty cool to be able to sit at the front of the room like that and you definitely feel a lot more important than you are! The purpose of the business meeting was to markup some pending legislation and vote on whether or not to send some judicial nominees to the senate floor for a full vote. There were no witnesses or testimony for a change, just twelve senators sitting around a table talking to each other about legislation (while a room full of staff, camera crews, and interested bystanders observed quietly). This was a pretty cool look at a part of the legislative process that you don’t normally get to witness from the outside and I found it to be very interesting and informative.
Last Friday, Dave Hanke took me out to lunch, along with Doug Ivanac. Dave is our Military Affairs Legislative Assistant and Doug is our Military Fellow from the Navy. We walked down the street to a Mexican food restaurant and spent the lunch talking about my career goals and life in the JAG Corps. Dave was an Army JAG prior to coming to work on Capitol Hill and he had a lot of really great information for me about what life as a JAG is like and what to expect during the interview process. Being a naval officer, Doug was able to weigh in with specifics about the Navy and what the interview and application process is like when it comes to getting a commission. I was very excited to have the opportunity to speak to both of them and hear their input on my career goals. Also, when I asked Dave if he was glad that he went to law school, I was happy to hear him say that it was one of the best decisions he made. So many lawyers I have talked to have said that they regretted going or would have done something different if they could do it over again. A few have even tried to talk me out of going to law school by telling me depressing tales of the horrors of law school and the miserable lives of attorneys. Dave said that the law isn’t for everyone and you have to really know that you want to do it. He said not to be disillusioned by what you see on tv or in the movies and don’t expect to make a lot of money or be a star in the courtroom. But if you have a passion for practicing law and a desire to use it in a positive way, than it can be a very rewarding career and can provide you with a lot of great opportunities, specifically in the JAG Corps. I was really encouraged to hear him say that and I think it did a lot for my confidence level going into law school this fall. Overall, it was a great lunch and they even paid for me! I can’t say enough how fortunate I am to have landed in an office with great people who have been where I want to go, and care enough about my future to take time to talk with me about it. This is definitely the most rewarding part of this internship experience!
Last weekend was pretty relaxed, with a few new experiences. Throughout the last couple of months, we have made friends with the interns from Ohio State who are living in the same hall in our apartment building. They’re a bunch of really fun people and we’ve all enjoyed getting to hang out with them during the evenings and weekends. Unfortunately, Ohio State operates on a quarter system meaning that they have four quarters a year instead of two semesters. Because of this, they’re internships only last for the first quarter and they have to go home mid-semester to begin a new quarter. This Friday was their last day in DC, so we spend most of Friday afternoon and evening hanging out with them and enjoying our last day together. Saturday morning we said our final goodbyes to our Ohio State friends as they packed up their bags and moved out of the building, exchanging contact information and assuring them that we would continue to hate Michigan our entire lives (animosity for the State of Michigan was one of the first things they taught us, and we in turn taught them to hate the University of Oklahoma). After they were packed up, I decided to cook brunch and I must say that I did a great job with it. I made a great meal, consisting of a cheese omelet, sausage, toast, and even cooked bacon successfully for the first time on my own; though I burnt it to an inedible crisp on my first attempt and had to open the windows to ventilate the smell.
Saturday evening, Chris Wilkes and I decided to head over to Georgetown and see that part of DC for the first time. We took a $1 bus from Union Station to Georgetown, enjoying the view of the city during the ride. After eating dinner at Five Guys for my first time (not great, I think I’ll stick with Whataburger), we proceeded to walk around the area and take a look at all of the shops and nightlife. There are a lot of shopping a restaurants to take in around that area and the place was definitely alive with weekend nightlife. Overall, it was a really neat area with a lot to experience, including some incredible musicians playing for tips on the street corner. The style of the roads and architecture reminded me a lot of New Orleans in some ways or maybe images that I’ve seen of France and other European cities. You can definitely see the European influence in the design and layout of the streets and buildings. We tried to stop by the world-famous Georgetown Cupcakes, but found the line wrapped around two corners of the building and decided that no one needs a cupcake that badly. We then walked through the campus of Georgetown University, which is incredibly impressive! The architecture is very old and very intimidating and it definitely has the feel of an elite university with an incredible amount of prestige. The area was very nice and a lot different than Capitol Hill, and I can see why a lot of people like to live over there. Though, I have to say that I still prefer UNT’s campus and our abundance of trees and grass, which seems to be in short supply up here. After leaving Georgetown, we walked back over to the metro stop, passing by the Embassy of Sweden on the way. Sweden has a beautiful, modern building, right on the waterfront and we decided that our relations with the Swedes must be pretty good for them to deserve such premium real estate. We finally caught the train home after an eventful sightseeing trip, passing by an Exxon on the way which was selling gas for $5.09 a gallon! I’m glad I live in Texas and don’t have to drive in DC!
On Sunday, I slept until 12:30 pm and didn’t feel bad about it one bit! I needed the rest, especially after the clocks unfortunately rolled forward an hour. On a side note, I really hate daylight savings time, especially the part where the clocks go forward instead of back. Luckily I didn’t have to get up early on the day that it changed. Sunday afternoon, I was pleased to find that the FC Dallas (soccer) season opener against the New York Red Bulls was being broadcast on a tv station that we get here in DC. I was able to watch my team pull off a thrilling 2-1 win over New York to start the season on a positive note. FC Dallas happens to have DC United as an away game this year and will be coming to DC on March 30th! Even better, the 30th happens to be college night for DC United and college students can get sideline tickets to the game for only $20 each. Chris Wilkes and I have already bought tickets and my best friend from UNT is coming up to DC that weekend, so we’ll all be going to the game together. I’m excited that I’ll get to see Dallas play at least one live game this spring, even while I’m away from Texas! Another great service at Frontline Church wrapped up Sunday evening and completed another great week in DC!
