Lucas Brooks Last Post

Hello all,

This final blog is dedicated to my boys, Henry, Dane, and Aman. Never would've made it through the winter without em.

Now is a good time I feel to discuss my reflections from this semester and all the things I've learned here in Washington. One of the things I've learned to not take for granted over these past couple of months is the way my parents raised me and the importance of pulling my own weight and taking care of and cleaning up after myself. Though I may have griped about it at the time, every time I tried to leave stuff hanging around the house, or tried to wait until my mom gave in and did the dishes, and she called me on it and made me clean up after myself or do the dishes, I was slowly building up the capacity I needed to make it through this semester. Doing chores with my roommates is very similar.

A valuable lesson we learned too late this semester (as in like 20 minutes ago) is that life is a whole lot easier when you simply don't make a mess (if you use something, clean up and put it away when you're done with it) instead of everybody leaving their stuff all over the apartment and relying on nose goes or some schedule that nobody's ever really kept to decide who has to clean everything up alone. For our last three weeks here together, everyone is dedicated to keeping our amazing apartment clean by trusting each other to take care of our own messes, and by giving Henry broad powers of enforcement. Teamwork makes the dream work.

I'll leave you with these highlights from the last month.

 Ben and Alana when we visited Great Falls

 Aman practicing his new manners on Annie

 Good Friday march through DuPont circle down Connecticut avenue (view from my office)

 Central Park, New York (visiting my family over Easter)

 View from our balcony during the last snowstorm of the year

 Wild deer at the National Zoo with Alana

 Aman made guac

 Dane tried to make cinnamon toast but confused it with french toast

 Luke going for a run on the first nice day in DC

See you soon Claremont

-Lucas Brooks '16

One Month Left Until The End

Hi! It's my last blog post before the end of the semester, meaning that there are only 3-4 weeks left. It's hard to believe that the semester is already almost over- it went by so quickly... :(

Since the weather warmed up, I've been exploring DC and almost am through with my bucket list.

Here are some pics:

Cherry blossom trees

WWII Memorial - beautiful day out 

Cherry Blossoms in peak

More cherry blossoms because they're beautiful

Friends

My best friend from home, Justine, came to visit this weekend! She arrived Friday night and left Sunday morning, so we really only had one full day. But, we got through a ton of monuments and memorials, plus a nice tapas dinner at La Tasca. 

Korean War memorial - a little creepy at night...

Mr. Abe

TJeff

Reflecting Pool 

yummy yummy tapas at La Tasca

CMC's Alumni Chapter invited the Washington Program to a Nationals Game on Saturday, and it was great. Sarah, Sarenna, my best friend from home, and I went to brunch at Busboys and Poets on U Street before the game - definitely recommend it. When we got to the game, everybody was so happy: the weather was awesome (a bit hot, but not scorching hot), beers, and baseball. Unfortunately, the Nationals lost to the Cardinals by one point, but it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Nationals vs. Cardinals

Excited

Excited pt. 2 

AWWWW 

I have been dog/housesitting for a friend, and she let me invite a few friends over for an Easter dinner. Unfortunately, half the program had plans, but the ones that could make it got to enjoy some BBQ ribs, shrimp, sangria, and fun!

Easter BBQ Dinner with ribs and sangria

Lucas came over to help me dogsit Koda last weekend

To conclude, the Washington Program has been an amazing experience and taught me so much. I've definitely learned to appreciate good weather, and the precious time that I have. It gave me a real-world experience-- how to find an apartment and figure out the leasing contract, how to navigate my way around a new city, a 9-6 job, etc. I don't think I have done anything more mentally exhausting than I did this semester, especially because I just wanted to sleep after my job, but sometimes had to spend time doing homework or going to class. However, it is very rewarding, knowing that I can do it.

After the Washington Program ends, I will fly home for a couple weeks to finally see my friends and family. Then, I'll return to DC for a summer internship somewhere, but will have a different apartment and internship (and no classes!). After the summer ends, I'm off to study abroad in Spain!

April 13, 2014

 

There are only four weeks left in the semester! Luckily, the weather is improving and the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom this weekend. With the warmer weather and later sunsets, I have been walking to and from work for the past week. The city is very easy to navigate and almost everything is within walking distance. Both my roommate and I knew the internships we were seriously contemplating at the time we were looking for a place to live and we took this into consideration when looking at different housing options. If possible, I recommend you do the same. It is always nice to walk to work on a sunny day instead of taking the metro or the bus. It doesn’t hurt to save money either.

Nice weather is also the perfect opportunity to take a trip to the grocery store. The entire district has been abuzz since a new Trader Joe’s opened in the U Street corridor -- I’m not kidding! There is only one other store in the area, so this is a big deal for the chain’s fans. Although the store is only two stops away on the metro, carrying tons of bags is unwieldy and cumbersome. I joined the ranks of shoppers and the elderly who use grocery carts by buying one online. It may look dorky, but it’s been amazingly convenient and all my intern coworkers have been asking where I found it!

With the convenience of my cart, I easily stocked up on fresh produce and new ingredients to make some great dishes this past month!

I love breakfast and brunch, but it’s often hard to justify going out and spending $20 first thing in the morning on something you can do at home. It can also be hard to justify that stack of pancakes sometimes! My solution – I made corn bread and peanut butter pancakes that are gluten-free. Not only did I save money, but I saved my cholesterol level too.

 

 These weekend cravings are the reason I keep all purpose gluten-free flour and cornmeal in the house. It has definitely come in handy when I need a pastry fix!

I forgot, however, to reduce the recipe size and ended up with leftover batter for days. I was eating pancakes for two weeks, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy them -- especially when topped with black currant preserves.

For dinner last week I made a multi-layer gratin with all the great items I picked up at Trader Joe’s. Unlike in California, the grocery stores here don’t usually carry produce that’s out of season, so I haven’t had very good luck finding certain fresh vegetables until now. I took advantage of the stocked shelves at Trader Joe’s to stock my fridge in kind.

I put some of my favorite vegetables in this dish, including zucchini and kale. I’ve also learned from past cooking endeavors that putting a layer of thinly sliced potatoes (I prefer Yukon Gold) on the bottom and top of the dish help give the gratin structure and prevent it from falling apart.

I sautéed the kale and a chopped red onion until they were soft so they more easily fit into the glass baking dish.

Beneath the sautéed vegetables is a layer of potato slices and sliced zucchini. After sprinkling a heavy dose of shredded mozzarella cheese on the mix, I poured about ¾ a cup of cream evenly over the layers to give the dish some additional moisture while baking.

 

 

 Once I added another layer of sliced zucchini and potatoes, I scattered some Parmesan cheese over the top level in order to give the potatoes a nice crispiness.

Although I like to experiment with my dishes and cook to my taste, it always helps to follow a good recipe. My dad sent me a wonderful clipping from the food section of The Los Angeles Times for cremini and shitake mushroom bisque. Unfortunately I don’t have a blender here and, after a brief and failed attempt to blend some mushrooms with a hand mixer, I decided to make the bisque chunky.

 

I sliced the baby bella cremini and shitake mushrooms and lightly pan-fried them with a diced onion before adding three cups of vegetable broth.

 

 

The recipe is for vegan bisque, but I had a lot of difficulty finding cashew cream and I ended up using a smaller amount of table cream instead.

After letting the soup simmer, I garnished it with freshly chopped chives and a little black truffle olive oil. 

I had plenty bisque left over and easily took it to work in a Tupperware container to reheat at lunch. This was by far my favorite dish! I guess the LA Times food columnists know what they are talking about.

So, you think you want to be a Hill intern? Part II: Getting the job

In my last post, I gave you a run-down of what to expect from a Hill internship; in this one, I'll be giving you a slew of tips that will make you a stand-out applicant for a House personal office. This advice won't apply to all committee or Senate-side internships, as many of them will be particular to the duties that I outlined last month, but I'll denote tips that are useful no matter where you work in a color.

Applying, accepting, and what you should worry about before your internship begins

Writing and submitting your application

Applying for Hill internships will be daunting. Every office has its own recruitment procedure, so it'll seem as if you're applying to completely separate offices, but there are some similarities that are worth noting. First of all, let’s run down time-frame issues. Here’s a general look at when you should look at applying to Hill offices. This chart airs on the side of caution, but abide by these deadlines and you will never make the awkward follow-up call only to find out that they filled up their program two months before.

Term	Timeframe	Begin applying	First follow-up	First-round decisions made	Second-round decisions made	Last-minute decisions/offices made
Fall	September-December	May/June	Late May	June	July	Early September
Spring	January-May	November/December	Late November	Early December	Early January	Late January
Summer	May-August	January/February	Early February	Late February	Late March/Early April	Early May

More on follow-up later, but for now, let’s turn to the actual application. Every office will require a cover letter and a resume, and some will ask for a writing sample:

The resume- Absolutely keep it to one page, and make sure you use your formatting techniques (read: bolding) to highlight the items of note. Having no DC or office experience won't stop you from getting a position, but certainly highlight government classes you've taken if this is the case. They want to know that you have a feel for what happens in DC, and that you understand the basics of the legislative process. Also highlight any leadership positions you've held and any direct connection that you have to their district. They want interns that have a feel for the geography and constituents in the district, so make sure they know where you're coming from if you have a connection. Aside from this, you can use the same resume for all of your applications.

The cover letter- First off, remember KISS: keep it simple, stupid. Hill staffers are extremely busy, and desirable offices can get hundreds of intern applications in peak season. Your cover letter should be short and easy on the eyes. Open with the dates you are available (be sure to note if you're available full-time!), briefly mention your particular interest in their office, and close with one or two sentences about your past experiences. If your cover letter runs more than about 400 words, including greetings and salutations, you're doing it wrong. You can use a template for all of the offices you apply to here, just make sure that you do personalize somehow to the individual member.

Also, be sure to address your cover letter to the intern coordinator by name. Call the D.C. (not district) office and ask for the name of the intern coordinator. Use their first and last name for the greeting.

The writing sample- Not all offices will require a writing sample, but it never hurts to include one. Keep the sample under 500 words or so (two pages, double spaced). They most likely aren't going to read it thoroughly; they'll skim it briefly just to make sure your writing skills are up to par. Any good writing will do, but if it's a Government paper, even better.

I've heard of some offices doing a quick writing test, in which they give you a set time (usually an hour or two) to email them a written piece on a topic of their choosing. Doing very well on these assignments can make you a standout applicant, but they are really aimed at weeding out applicants that have poor writing skills. As long as your writing is clear, concise, and grammar/spelling-error free, you've got nothing to worry about here.

Occasionally, an application will ask for a list of references, and even rarer, a letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation can come from any professor you have a good relationship with, or from any boss you've had in the past. Most offices will take these letters into consideration, but they won't be a make-or-break for your application. Just make sure you provide one, and you're good to go.

Different offices prefer to receive your application in different ways. Most will have a form on their website, so go ahead and fill that out and attach the appropriate documents. Some will request that you send a resume and cover letter to a specific email address. Go ahead and do this, as well. While emailing the intern coordinator your application directly can seem like a good idea, and it can be in certain situations, consider this before you do it:

With so many applications coming in, the intern coordinator may have it set up that so that the information goes straight from the form into a spreadsheet, or straight to a specific inbox. It's good to be proactive, but if the office has a system, you don't want to create an unnecessary hassle for them by thinking you're too good for their spreadsheet. There are other ways to distinguish yourself that I will detail below, so focus on those.

However, if someone you know has a connection in the office, absolutely have them forward your application materials to the staffer that they know. The Hill thrives on connections, so even a quick note that accompanies a resume from someone the staffer knows can go a long way. It definitely won’t hurt to also submit your application through the standard channels, but work your connections if you have them!

Follow-up

A few people have asked me before: how many offices should I try to apply to? With no DC/Hill experience, I recommend that you apply to at least five offices, and here’s why: intern coordinators on the Hill are notorious for not getting back to you about your application. You can work for weeks on your applications, submit them in all of the right ways, and you will almost certainly not get a phone call (especially not immediately).

One of the issues you will face on the Hill is that it can be very hard to get a person’s attention. As I’ve mentioned before, staffers are constantly swamped with far more work than they can handle. The intern coordinator is usually a staff assistant or another junior staffer, and considering internship applications will only be at the top of their to-do list for maybe a week, tops. So, it’s important to make sure that your information is in front of them at the right time. Follow-up phone calls and emails can be an appropriate way to do this, but there is a balance you need to consider: if you call too many times, the office can write you off as either annoying or desperate for work, neither of which you want to be.

Here’s an example of a good timeline for follow-up for a Spring semester internship:

Nov. 10^th- Call the office and ask who the intern coordinator is.

Nov. 15^th- Submit your application

Dec. 1^st- Make a follow-up call to the office. Note the name of the person you are speaking to on the phone. Let them know that you have already submitted an application, and ask to speak to the intern coordinator just to get an idea about a timeline. You will most likely be told that the staffer is unavailable/ in a meeting, and to follow up with an email. Do this.

Dec. 10^th- Call the office back. Indicate that you have submitted an application and followed up via email, but have not received a response. Ask whether internship interviews will be conducted before or after the holiday recess. Try your best to schedule an interview at this point.

Jan. 4^th- Follow up with another email to the intern coordinator and a call to the office. If they do not get back to you at this point, consider the office a dead end and explore your other options.

While this may seem unreasonable, it is quite common to just never hear back from the office at all. You are much more likely to be scheduled for an interview if you call the office and speak to the intern coordinator, rather than waiting to hear back. Again, there is a balance between annoying and appropriate that can vary between offices and be very difficult to read. However, if you wait 10-14 days between your calls and inquire only about the timeline that you can expect to hear back regarding an interview, you’ll probably have some luck.

Interviewing

If you apply to several offices and follow up appropriately, you’ll probably get a few phone interviews. They will generally be straightforward and brief. Be polite, but amiable. They’ll ask you about your background with politics, your personal interest in the office, and usually about your strengths and weaknesses as a team player. The interview is really trying to vet two things: (1) is this a smart, well-educated person? (2) Will this person do a good job on the phones, as the first (and only, usually) point of contact for constituents? To do well, you need to come across as well-educated and friendly, but also professional. There isn’t too much advice I can give here unique to Hill offices, so just follow general interview ettiquite!

After the interview, send a follow-up email thanking the staffer for their time. At this point, they’ll usually either reach out to offer you a position quickly, or they will not get back to you at all.

Accepting (or declining!)

If you receive an offer from your interview, congratulations! You should try to let the office know within a week if you are able to accept; at this point, you can call the other offices to which you’ve applied and let them know that you are currently sitting on an offer. This can also potentially speed things up in other non-responsive offices, so that can be a plus.

If you receive another offer that you prefer, that is just fine! Politely let the office know that you will be declining, but ask the office to keep your resume on file. Check in with the office every six months or so to let them know what you’re doing, even if the emails go unanswered. If you do this, you can keep them as a connection to help you get a job after you graduate in some circumstances. As long as you are civil and upfront, you aren’t burning a bridge with the office and stay in touch! Turn-over on the Hill happens quickly and frequently, and that staffer may know about a job opening at a perfect time for you that you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.

That being said, if you accept an internship with an office and then back out, you probably won’t remain on good terms with the office, so definitely try to avoid doing this.

Alright, well, I think that’s about all the advice I can give you! To sum up, be brief, appropriately persistent, and cheerful. Those three qualities will get you a long way here. My final entry will detail how to do well once you’ve secured a Hill internship, so keep your eyes peeled!