I’m just about at the half point of my internship. It seems like it’s been no time at all.
This experience has been absolutely amazing. I’ve gotten to learn so much about the political process, legislation, and policy issues. I watch a few hearings or floor debates every week, and it’s gratifying that I’m starting to understand more of what’s going on. It’s also interesting to me that some of my political positions are not quite as firm as I once thought. Floor debates may not be the most exciting things ever, but they do raise important questions. I love that in DC, almost everyone is prepared to debate those important questions. The standard of political engagement is very high – and I love it.
One of the things I’m working on right now is understanding the 2014 Farm Bill. It’s an incredibly long bill with a bunch of different programs. Digging into one piece of legislation has been quite an education in just how complicated these big bills can be.
I’ve also been working on several things outside of my internship. Since my last blog post, I visited a grad school here in DC and absolutely fell in love with it. I submitted my application a couple of days ago. Somehow I managed to forget how nerve-wracking it is to apply to school. It’s only been two years since I applied to transfer to Tulane, but I forgot about how much you get invested in an application when you work on it for hours and hours.
I’m also working on networking. It is DC after all. I’ve gone to a few events, and I’ve tried to followup with coffee dates. In fact, I’ve got one today with a Tulane alumna. I really appreciate that so many women’s groups around DC do networking events. It’s often easier to network in a group of women.
It’s hard to think that in only two months, I’ll be back for my last year of undergrad. After applying to grad school, I think I’m more excited to finish up strong. I’ll also be happy to get some of my favorite New Orleans food. It’s really hard to find alligator dogs in DC. (Dat Dog, anyone?) Even so, I don’t want to leave anytime soon. All of the interns in this city are exceptionally well qualified, and it’s such an exciting environment. I know the skills I’m learning now (time management, professionalism, writing and editing, research) will be really helpful when I get back to school as well as when I graduate.