Our House, in the Middle of DC

I know I speak for a majority of my class when I say that finding housing is one of the more daunting aspects of coming to DC. While working in the most powerful city in the world and sharing office space with the most influential people in our country were indeed intimidating, the thought of not having the Dean of Housing place me in a suite north quad room (pun, obviously, intended) was down right terrifying. Three weeks before arriving, my roommates and I were fairly certain we’d be

a) living in a tent (Occupy DC?) or

b) snuggling with Alias, a middle aged man who agreed to rent us his apartment if we pretended to be his cousins, joined his start-up online social network, and let him sleep on the couch (yes, this offer was actually made to us).

However, as difficult as it seems, with just a few helpful hints you’ll find a two bed room (with walk in closest), two bath, full furnished apartment that includes maid service, a gym, a pool, and a printing computer lab all for just under the price of CMC housing… or at least we did. Here are some tips to remember and options to explore:

· Live in the NW quadrant, this is generally going to be the safest/most convenient place to live. A large majority of internships will be in this area, and you’re late-night commutes from class won’t take too long.

· Make sure you’re near a metro stop. If an advertiser says a place is “close” to the metro, make sure to check distance on googlemaps- there are different definitions for "close" for desperate renters and those trying to make it to work on time.

· Start looking on craigslist and rental sites early- you’re probably not going to find a place in late spring or early summer, however, you’ll get practice writing emails and looking at leases.

· Consider a corporate rental. That’s what we did and got a great deal (see the brag list above). Ours place is located in Foggy Bottom so there are a lot of GW students in the building creating a young atmosphere. There’s a dry cleaners on the first floor, a Trader Joe’s and CVS across the street and all the shopping and cupcakes of Georgetown right next door. Check out Bridgestreet for more information.

· Don’t be afraid to bug people for information. Advertisements will rarely tell the full story. Furthermore, accept the fact that people are going to laugh at you. A four month rental for a group of college students is a ridiculous request that few people will be willing to fill.

· Maker sure to ask past DCers or any advice, or see if they can put you in contact with a resource.

With all this being said, GOOD LUCK! And please, let me know if you have any questions.

Alum Event Extravaganza!

Yesterday, one of the most loved CMC personalities, John Faranda, hosted an alumni event at the D.C. class room. In true Ath fashion, cheese, crackers and wine were served as current and past students had a chance to catch up, meet, and mingle. Though most of us lingered on past memories of CMC, Mr. Faranda showed us a slide show of the possible suture of our beloved school. I had a chance to chat with some alumni and hear their thoughts on the past, present and future of our school.

What do you miss most about the school?

• "The professors! You never realize what a privilege it is to be surrounded by such an amazing faculty."

• "Collins and the hub. I wish my parents still paid for my meals"

• "Toga party.... am I allowed to say that?"

• "The classes, definitely."

• "Living next door to all of my friends."

What class do you regret not taking while at CMC?

• "Pitney's Congress class. Everyone who took it still raves about how great it was to this day."

• "I don't know about classes, but I know I wish I went to the Ath more often."

Do you think campus life has changed at CMC since your time there?

• "As long as people still work hard and play hard... then no."

What should be CMC's top priority for the future?

• "More events where they bring alumni back!... I miss campus."

• "While I was there I always wanted them to let me bring my dog in the dorms.... that's not gonna happen is it?"

• "The library NEEDS to be open 24/7! I mean seriously, who studies before 11pm?"

Do you miss the D.C. Program?

• "YES. I miss all the people, the professors and my internship.What I would give to be back."

• "Well I did initially... until I realized work is a lot easier when it's followed by happy hour instead of homework."

• "Oh yes. And it prepared me well. Grad school and work would have seemed impossible to accomplish if it wasn't for my experience on the program."

Mt. Vernon, Party Buses and Creme Brulee

What do Mt. Vernon, party buses and creme brulee have in common? They're all a part of the amazing field trip planned for the group by Dr. Elizabeth Spalding. It takes a great organizer to entertain a group of strictly-professional twenty-somethings... but the sing-a-long bus ride was proof that a good time was had by all. Can I get a toot, toot?














Students sit on George Washington's fence



The group in front of the Potomac


Fall leaves


Enjoying the party bus

In the Shadow of a Senator- A Day with Senator Merkley

Here in D.C., and around the U.S. interns are used to being in the shadows. This is not to say we aren’t doing substantive or important work, but rather that we recognize our transient nature, and that for some, this means credit is not always given credit where credit is due.

Thus far I have had an absolutely wonderful internship experience at Senator Merkley’s office: I’ve fallen in love with a new policy area, my LC and LA have incorporated me into the team and make sure I have exciting project each week, and I’ve had lunches with the Senator and all the upper level staff. Furthermore, last Wednesday I had a chance to shadow the Senator for the whole day.

While most Americans are under the misconceptions that Senators are lazy, do-nothings who socialize all day, if you’ve taken Professor Pitney’s Congress class you know how busy they really are. On Wednesday, I began my day with the Senator at 8:30, because that is when I come into work. He however, had already been working for hours, going to meetings, researching legislation and taking phone calls. In my nine hours with the Senator, we attended seven meetings, were on the floor once for a speech and once to preside, gave a press conference, met with various staff members and attended committee hearings. We never even had time for lunch. I’d always seen the Senator running in and out of the office, but I never truly appreciated the rigors of his schedule until I spent the day running in my heels, trying to keep up with him.

The coolest parts of the day were getting to speak with the Senator about current issues, his time on the Hill and the work that he’s done in the past. Senator Merkley is unique in that he, as a college student, interned for Senator Hatfield, whose seat he now holds. Because of this he has a special appreciation and understanding of the work us interns do. Few get a chance to spend an entire day with their boss, nonetheless a Senator. It is an experience I will always cherish. As an intern in D.C. you’re going to work hard, toil over projects you love, run errands you hate, and stand in awe of the individuals in whose shadows you stand.

*Also, it was fun to have my name on CSPAN/ entered into the congressional record when the Senator asked for unanimous consent to allow me to have floor privileges for the day.

At the Hart of Excitment

Around 11:30 am on October 11, 2011, I, and just about every other intern and staffer in my building, emerged from our offices, roused by the sounds of… an occupation. Over 100 members of Stop the Machine, Occupy D.C. and Code Pink took advantage of the Hart Senate Building’s 90-foot tall, echoing atrium chanting “we are the 99%” and “tax the rich, end the war. ” The protestors spread out from the top floor to the bottom, waving banners, blocking bathrooms and conveniently pressing all the buttons in the elevators.

As I observed the scene from the balcony, a protestor grabbed my arm yelling, “YOU are the 1%!” I can only conclude that he was jealous of my recent 100% salary increase. Life is great for unpaid interns.

Post-occupation, six protestors were arrested for unlawful conduct-demonstrating. Pete Morris, a representative of the Macpherson Square Occupy D.C. movement, clarified that his group did not support Hart protestors. He said his group always obtains permits before events.

Regardless of if you agree with the protestors or not, these kinds of events are part of the draw of living in D.C. Whether you’re stuck in traffic because of the President’s motorcade, or your lunch goes long because the South Korea President’s adviser decides to sit next to you on a bench, you always have a good excuse for being late to class!

Ya got lunch made when you work in trade!

Lydia Li

Washington International Trade Association

Tell me about what the Washington International Trade Associate (WITA) does, and what your responsibilities are as an intern.

We are a nonprofit and nonpartisan trade policy oriented organization with over 2,000 members. We organize trade policy events where we invite speakers from the USTR and other organizations to talk with our members. Aside from that, we have e-publications on our website and we run a small career center to help young trade professional start their careers in the trade arena.

As an intern, I have two major responsibilities: the first are my daily duties. This means answering phone calls, replying to emails and keeping up our website. The second part is event related. I create fliers, other promotional material and I am in charge of registering guests.

How many events do you host each week? How dramatically do your hours fluctuate between event/non-event days?

We usually have one event per week. However, since most of our speakers are trade executives or government member there are some weeks where they are in extensive negotiations. This can mean no events one week and more than one the next.

On the day of the event, I have to be at work one hour before the event starts- this means getting up early. But I can usually leave early on Fridays if there is not too much to do.

On average, how many free meals would you say you get each week? And on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate these meals?

Wow… on average? Two or three…. Make it two-and-a-half free meals a week. We get good sandwiches, nothing too fancy, so I’d say they’re a 7. And sometimes it’s not a full meal, but coffee and snacks etc.

What other internships did you apply for?

I applied for Congresswoman Chu, CSIC and Brookings Institute.

Why did you choose WITA?

I guess because it’s more related to my econ major, and I didn’t want to do a pure politics internship. It also is much more fun than pure research at an institute.

Who’s the coolest person you’ve had a chance to meet through your organization?

Well, I get to meet Ambassador Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative next week. He’s cabinet level, and he is in charge of all trade policy and negotiations.

What has been the hardest thing and the best about the transition from Claremont to D.C.?

The hardest thing is that we have much less free time. The best thing is that you really get a chance to see the world. Really… the world is much bigger than Claremont!

What’s your #1 tip for living in D.C.?

Hmmm… I’d say enjoy working!!

Any final comments?

Oh yes! For any IR majors, the embassies in D.C. do hire interns, but they don’t post any information publically. So, if you want to work for any embassy you can contact them directly to apply for a position.

NO LABELS: An interview with Sean McQueen

We start the internship interview series with a nonpartisan and unique (euphemism for coolest) internship. CMC junior Sean McQueen works as a graphic design intern at a non-profit 501(c)4, “No Labels.” With a purported purpose of pushing aside the petty political partisanship that has brought our nation to a standstill, No Labels aims to inspire a return politics that puts what is best for Americans first. Founded by veteran Democratic fundraiser Nancy Jacobson in 2010, the organizations mobilizes citizens to push for solutions to, rather than squabbles about, our nations toughest issues.

Can you tell me a little bit about No Labels and what you do as an intern?

Sure, No Labels is an advocacy group that started up in December of last year. We’re a little different from most advocacy groups because while most groups campaign for a specific policy issues, we are campaigning for a political process. We are against the aggressive partisanship that has basically made it so nothing gets done in Washington. The end goal of the organization is to support candidates who are willing to work across the aisle, and publically renounce those politicians who impede the legislative process through petty partisan games.

Our office is pretty small; we have about 12 staff members, which is really fun. It’s more of a small Silicon Valley office feel than a big D.C. office. I work with the digital media team and we manage the online public image of the organization. This means our website, facebook, twitter, email etc. We have 150,000 people who have signed up for our news updates, and over 50,000 facebook “likes.” Our media team consists of a team-leader, web developer, a content writer and me; I’m the graphic designer. I make graphics for all our online media.

What is the coolest project you’ve work on so far?

Hmmm, I have to think, there are a few. Every Friday I make a graphic that we post on our facebook page for the weekend because more people have time to be on facebook on the Saturday and Sunday. One the coolest thing I did was I made a graphic that got over 1000 likes on facebook, which was pretty awesome.

We also have these giant, informative documents that we give to potential financial backers. A cool thing I did was I edited this enormous document, formatted it and added in the images and graphics. Then I got to send it to all these huge donors. It’s nice working here though, because I do cool things everyday.

How did you discover No Labels?

Actually, Caroline Nyce (another CMC student) worked here over the summer. I spoke to her a bunch and she could not stop raving about the organization. So I asked if they were taking fall interns and applied.

Were all the internships you looked into graphic design based?

This was actually the only graphic design internship I applied for. I’m mostly an econ major, so I applied to the SEC, the Counsel of Economic Advisors, my senator and a few others. I heard back from other places, but I was most excited about No Labels. One reason was because it’s a smaller organization and I knew I’d get to do a lot.

What is it like to work for a nonpartisan organization in such a politically driven city?

Well, every one who I work with has a political opinion and no one is hiding their political beliefs. I consider myself a Democrat, two guys are work with are Democrats as well, but two other consider themselves Republicans. The whole organization is full of people from both sides, but we are against the “red verses blue game.” We aren’t against different political beliefs; however, we are against demonizing each other because of these beliefs and not getting anything done. We’re about not hating each other because we are Republicans and Democrats and not sabotaging each other. We’re about starting a political discourse based on facts and publically advocating for people who are willing to do this.

So, does your office really feel like it has “no label”?

Yes, it definitely does. But its not like we aren’t politically aware. We are constantly reading what is happening, and discussing what position we are going to take on things.

Where do you live, where do you work and how do you commute?

I live a mile and a half north of the Capitol, in Noma. I bike to work everyday; unless it’s raining, then I take the bus, which takes longer. I work in Georgetown on Wisconsin, which means four-mile bike ride to work everyday. It’s takes like 20-25 minutes.

Will you stop biking when the weather gets cold?

I don’t think so. I’ll probably just wear sweaters, and gloves and scarves. When it gets unbearable maybe I’ll take the bus.

Are there any good lunch places around your office?

Yeah, I’m on Wisconsin, so a lot of good places to eat. We have a Starbucks right next-door, pizza places and a ton of good sandwich shops.

To find out more about No Labels, and to checkout more of Sean’s work go to:

http://nolabels.org/front
and
https://www.facebook.com/NoLabels?sk=wall

and

http://twitter.com/#!/NoLabelsOrg

D.C. Program- Fall 2011

Hello fellow DCmcers!
Welcome to the Experience Washington blog. It's been over a year since anything has been posted, and the world is long over due for an update on our critically important lives. We're the few and the proud who are, day-in and day-out, sorting mail, answering phones and frantically writing memo after memo. Just try and function without us, Washington.... you can't.

Over the next few months I will be blogging about Program events, D.C. living and our classes. Additionally, there will be a weekly interview with current students about their internships-this week, we start with Sean McQueen who is a graphic design intern at No Labels).

I hope this blog can serve as a resource for future students when looking for internships, finding apartments or when trying to order some decent Thai takeout. If you have any questions, comments or story ideas let me know!
Happy Columbus Day!