Change

So, I just finished Season 2 of House of Cards, and I am shocked, excited, and scared, all at the same time. I won't say anything, but aaaah Francis Underwood!!!!! It is pretty cool to be in Washington and recognize some of the places in the show. I wonder if Freddie's BBQ Joint actually exists…

But, like Frank Underwood, I, too, changed internships! Okay, I'll stop with the House of Cards references. My first internship wasn't a great fit for me, and it wasn't what I was looking for in my Washington experience. I'm now in the Office of Congresswoman Janice Hahn (D-44), and am so grateful to have been given a second chance and to work on the Hill. That being said, I learned that change is good, and sometimes necessary. Although I enjoyed my time at my previous internship and learned a lot, I'm glad I found the courage to switch internships. DC is full of transitions, and it's normal to change jobs. If you aren't happy or satisfied with your internship, feel free to speak up and talk to Dr. Spalding, or your internship coordinator, and figure out what the best course of action is for you.

Cannon House Office Building 

My place of work

I know I mentioned this in my previous post, but the use of public transportation and walking is so new to me! I've always used a car to get around everywhere in Los Angeles, and having to rely on public transportation is honestly not as convenient, and sometimes really frustrating, but I've learned to appreciate the nice morning walks, a few minutes to catch up on the news, and people-watching.

Rush hour crowd

Oh! The Washington Program students were invited to a town-hall discussion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Wednesday and Thursday, and he came over to where we were sitting!!!

The entire experience was amazing! He was such a humble and wise man. An We made it onto the official website (www.dalailama.com)!

February 16, 2014

Welcome to the end of week three in DC! My name is Jessica Laird and I’m the final blogger for the Spring 2014 semester. I’m currently a junior at CMC, majoring in both Philosophy and Government. My internship this semester is with the White House in the Chief of Staff’s office.

So far the bloggers have been doing a great job of describing the program and providing some guidance on what to expect when you first arrive. They have, however, been failing to focus on one of the most basic things about living on your own (DC or anywhere) – food!

There are a few things to think about food-wise for your semester in DC. First, there is a plethora of amazing and diverse restaurants in the city and you should take the time to try new foods. Second, DC is also very expensive and you will most likely be on a tight budget. Third, between school and work the schedule here can be exhausting, so cooking or going out every night isn’t necessarily feasible. My experiences won’t apply to everyone, but I will share some tips I’ve learned so far.

The Amazing Restaurants

In the past decade, DC has really blossomed as a culinary destination. Because it is the national capitol and attracts visitors from all over the world, the city has an extensive international cuisine. I’m a huge fan of Chinese and Thai food, which works out well since my roommate, Sarah Owens, and I live in Chinatown. There are still so many great places I want to try; The Washington Post is a great resource for dining out with their “Going Out Guide.” Trying new places is also a great way to spend time with your classmates or fellow-interns.

Each weekend we have been going out to different restaurants as a group. Washington, DC is known for having really good Ethiopian food, so on the first weekend of the program a group of us went to Dukem in the U Street corridor.

 

Ethiopian food has a similar texture and common ingredients with Indian food. What is unique is that you don’t use utensils when you eat; instead, you use bread similar to a buckwheat pancake to scoop up your food.

The second week, we tried a new continent and went to Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown. Unlike in a traditional dim sum house, at Ping Pong you order all dishes off of a menu and they have a full bar – it was very trendy.  The dumplings were still delicious, but everyone was a little surprised by the bill at the end of the night. It served as a good lesson for the future: even though a restaurant is well rated, you should check the prices on the menu before going there. I’ve made that mistake a couple of times now and I don’t plan on making it again.

Eating on a Budget

I have found that allotting $15/day is a reasonable way to budget my food expenses. This allows me to buy more than enough groceries each week and go out to eat once or twice on the weekends. Going out is definitely more expensive if you are 21 and choose to drink. I do, however, believe that it’s worth managing your spending throughout the week so you can afford to go out. DC has so many great bars and it’s a really social city. There are also tons of happy hour specials, which makes dining out and drinking very affordable if you want it to be. DChappyhours.com lists all the bars and restaurants with happy hour deals by neighborhood. 

Another way to save money on food while still being social is to have dinner parties or cook with your friends. Although I wouldn’t say cooking is my passion, I really enjoy food and trying new recipes. I am a vegetarian, so I like cooking for myself and making dishes to my preference. But cooking for a group often ends up being cheaper than dining out and leaves you with plenty of leftovers. Sarah and I both like to cook and we are lucky to live in the same building as Isabel, who is a culinary wizard. She often calls on us to be her baking experiment taste testers and we are more than happy to comply.

 

Sarah and I made guacamole and salsa and Henry made wings when we watched the Super Bowl at Aman, Lucas, Dane and Henry’s apartment.

 

                                                                                    

Everyone made delicious dishes for a Valentine’s Day potluck at our apartment.

Eating During the Week

With a busy work schedule and a rigorous coarse load I am pretty tired every night and often don’t have the energy to cook dinner or go out. My solution, which has worked out well in terms of price and convenience, is to make a casserole or baked dish each weekend that can be reheated for dinner throughout the week. There are so many great recipes online and so many websites devoted to easy cooking. I can’t wait to try them throughout the semester! Did I mention I like to eat?

 

                                                    

 

                               Mushroom, feta, kale and spinach frittata.

                  Potato, cauliflower, spinach, onion and mozzarella casserole (pre-bake).

This is not a meal, but I have become addicted to puppy chow.

So, you think you want to be a Hill Intern?

Every semester on the Washington Program, there are usually at least one or two people that end up on the Hill. This is my second turn working in a House personal office, so I'm going to give a quick run-down of my experience. I've never worked in the Senate, so my perspective is limited there, but I've worked in both the majority and minority, in a freshman office, in a California office, during an off year and an election year, and as both a Summer intern and a Spring intern, and I've tried to summarize the similarities I've found in all of my experiences. Also, just so you know, working in a Committee office is completely different-- this post really only applies to personal offices.

Here's the quick and dirty:

What you'll be doing all day:

Administrative duties: manning the phones; sorting mail; stuffing envelopes; running errands; giving tours; making coffee; logging faxes; checking voicemails
Writing: constituent form letters; briefing summaries; basic research memos; floor summaries; leg updates; meeting prep

The good and the bad:

The benefits: getting to know well-connected staffers; access to information through all sorts of channels including: briefings, e-Dear Colleagues, CRS resources, mailings that come into the office, just sitting around listening to staffers chat; lots of free food; access to cool buildings like the Capitol and the Library of Congress
The drawbacks: long hours; you won't get paid; relying on other interns; you're seen as temporary and highly replaceable; you aren't allowed in staff meetings; there will either be too much or too little work; there's no guarantee you'll be exposed to your area of policy interest

And the longform:

The first thing to know about working on the Hill is that every office is completely different. While they generally use the same format and rely on the same services, each office has their own system for their internship program and general operations. My advice, as I've mentioned, is limited to my experience and many former Hill interns will have different and even conflicting experiences. Thus, the best thing you can do to anticipate what it will be like working in a particular Hill office is to speak to someone who has interned in that office before. Use CMC's resources, or if no one from Claremont has interned in that office before, LinkedIn searches will oftentimes turn you up a profile. Connect with them and ask them about their general takeaways, what their duties were like, how much exposure they got to actual policy vs. the photocopier, and where they are now. Regardless of what they tell you about their experience, chances are if they're now a staffer or a policy analyst at a think tank, their intern experience was probably a good one. If they never went back to Washington, you might want to take a look at some other offices.

That said, as I've described above, the general duties of an intern are pretty similar across the board. You'll spend a lot of time dealing with constituents. For most offices, interns are their first point of communication. You're the ones answering the phones, reading the mail, logging the petitions. You'll get intimately familiar with a software called "IQ," where most offices log all constituent correspondence. Most offices will also give you a chance to write some letters to constituents-- freshman offices more so, because many won't have go-to form letters written on every issue yet. Communicating with constituents exposes you to a wide array of issues, keeps you up-to-date on your news, and allows you to get in touch with the people that your office represents. While it can be dull and overwhelming at times, I've always valued how well I've gotten to know the American people by staffing the phones.

Additionally, a lot happens every day on the Hill. There are briefings, hearings, Congressional reports filter through the office. If you're in session, your member will be voting and holding meetings with various advocacy groups. There's no way the staff can keep track of it all, so they'll rely on you for attending many briefings (at many of which, there will be free food!). Also, some offices have interns do floor updates or legislative summaries of what happened the previous day, items that usually go out to all of the staffers and get added to the legislative records. This is a good way to keep up-to-date with the goings-on, get familiar with Congressional procedure, and have your writing read by everyone in the office.

Finally, you will absolutely be running a lot of errands and performing repetitive tasks. Especially in peak tourist season (Spring and Summer), you'll be leading a lot of Capitol tours. You will probably be making coffee at least once a day. You'll spend a lot of time stuffing envelopes. You can expect anywhere from three to six hours of your workday to be spent on tasks that you could have done as a high school freshman. It can be mundane, but your office relies on interns to do these tasks. If you weren't there, they wouldn't be able to function, and they'll thank you for it. Also, most of the staffers started in your shoes, so no one will look down on you.

Also, be warned: Hill hours are long. You should arrive at your office between 8 and 8:30, which usually means leaving your house no later than 7:30. You'll be expected to stay at least until 5:30 or 6, and on the nights you don't have class, you should be staying late. If you get a lunch hour, count yourself very lucky-- most Hill interns eat at their desks and continue to man the phones. And while your supervisors can be understanding if you have a big paper, you shouldn't count on having time to do homework at work.

All of that being said, working on the Hill is demanding, but can be very rewarding. You'll gain exposure to a variety of policy areas that you might never have otherwise noticed. The staffers, if you impress them, will always be willing to help you find a job, and most of them are very well-connected. Additionally, you'll have access to CRS reports and all of the reports that come in the mail to your office. It's more information than a hundred people could process in a lifetime. For some, that can be overwhelming. For others, it can be a dream come true. Make sure you know which type of person you are before you show up for your first day, and strategize to break down the data into manageable chunks so that you learn as much as possible.

Pitfalls I've encountered are few and far between, but can be lethal. The first office I worked in was with a very constituent-minded member. We sourced out a lot of work to our district offices, and our legislative work was minimal. If you're a policy nut, try to avoid offices like this. You'll end up with little work to do, and little exposure to your interest area. Try to find an office of a career politician, or a freshman that is on the Hill to make waves. Also, be wary of other interns; while many of them are wonderful, as with any office, their prior experience will vary. Occasionally, you may end up working on joint projects with interns who don't take their work as seriously as you do. This can be extraordinarily frustrating (but more advice on how to handle situations like that in my next post!).

The first time I went to Washington, I worked at a lobbying firm. Over the summer, I sat down with attorneys and policy advisers alike and asked them for advice on how to get started in Washington. Every single one of them told me, "go to the Hill for at least a summer, if not longer." Most anyone in Washington, whether they work in the public or private sector, view Hill experience as a 'must.' You end up with a decent idea of the policy-making process, plus you can make valuable connections that turn you into an asset for whatever entity you end up working for. While it perhaps isn't the most glamorous or interesting position, Washington is a meritocracy. Climbing the ladder can try your patience, but if you intend on staying in Washington for your career, you won't regret spending time on the Hill.

Still interested? You certainly aren't faint of heart

If you're still interested in working on the Hill, check out my next blog-- "How to be successful as a Hill intern." I'll be going over advice for the hiring process, how to make a good impression during your first week, and what makes you a stand-out intern in the long-term.

Week 2- Lucas Brooks

I'm Lucas Brooks, CMC '16. I work for a consulting firm in DuPont Circle called Development Transformations, and my boss is actually a Pomona Grad and alumna of the CMC DC Program.

I live in the NoMa (North of Massachusetts Ave.) neighborhood of Northeast DC with Henry Appel, Aman Ghose, and Dane Brown, all '15 and all great guys. For anybody looking to come to DC this summer or in the future, our neighborhood is great. It's changing rapidly like a lot of DC, and our building in particular is really nice. There's an enormous supermarket on the ground floor which can be reached without ever having to go outside (convenient when it's below freezing outside), a half a block from a metro station and in walking distance of the Capitol. There are also two courtyards, a pool, two story gym, and even a dog park in the building.

The dining and kitchen area

The living room with my brand new 55" TV

One thing that's great about living here is that there are so many passionate, active people trying to fix the problems they see, so there's a lot of opportunity to get involved with the community. Besides my full time internship, I volunteer with an education focused non-profit in the city on Saturdays.

Two kids on our trip to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

 As someone from the West Coast, seeing a city react to snow is a fascinating experience. One of my favorite things I still can't get over is seeing the snow being blown upwards by the wind outside of the classroom's window last week.

View of Capitol from our apartment during SOTU

Dog in full snow suit

Have a great Super Bowl weekend everybody. One of the best things about being off campus for this semester is that, if the Seahawks win, I won't be in Claremont for the next four months of kids from Seattle gloating. Until next time, 

First Impression

Washington, DC: Week 1

City Night Lights
(Does anyone know what the name of this park is? Or how to get there???)

Day 1 of Orientation

"Hi, I'm Annie Hwang! I am a sophomore from Los Angeles, and am interning at 

The Dershowitz Group this semester." 

That was one of the first things Dr. Spalding taught us- how to introduce ourselves in DC. 

Because I'm not Madonna yet (and not in Cali anymore), I have to start using my last name in this formal, conservative town.

Our first day of Orientation Week ended early because DC panicked from the snow. Can you believe the federal government, and basically the whole town, shut down from like one inch of snow? 

And that I never saw snow before this week?! 

Like the North Pole! Get it? haha

Dane and Aman right before being attacked by Henry's snowballs

I was obviously super excited to see snow falling and thought it was the most beautiful thing ever… Until I discovered how painful and harsh Winter can be. 

In Los Angeles, Winter accessories don't exist. Nobody uses gloves, or owns earmuffs. I used scarves for the sole purpose of accessorizing my outfits. But, I have quickly learned that these are not Winter "accessories", rather necessities in this 10-20 degree weather. 

Bare hands vs. Winter
Please buy and use your gloves. 

 Day 2 of Orientation

Dr. Spalding got us tickets to tour the Newseum, easily my favorite part of Orientation Week. It was our first time bonding as a program, not to mention that this museum is amazing! 

If you have a chance, please go visit! 

Every day, the Newseum updates this wall with front pages from newspapers all around the world. 

Dane and Annie on the Newseum wall of fame

This doesn't belong in the Newseum gift shop!

Day 3 of Orientation

This was the longest day of the week, but the most memorable (with, of course, the exception of the Newseum). We toured the Capitol and had lunch with two CMC alumni who work on the Hill. 

Group Picture

Selfie with Jessica in front of the Capitol 

And then, we had this awkward hour and a half before our next meeting with Ben Miller, the Chief of Staff for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA). 

So, we decided to warm up at the U.S. Botanical Garden. And, it was beautiful.

Nature's colors

Thank you for teaching us so much about coffee! 

Sara and Ben checking the sugar content of water haha

Don't mind the height difference.

It was a long, long day with a lot of walking.
Lucas agrees. 

 Day 4 of Orientation

We had a private, backstage tour of the Supreme Court, followed by lunch at Professor Haskell's new job with Mike Franc, the Policy Director for the House Majority Whip. 

Majestic entrance

The Weekend Before the Start of our Internships

 My roommate Sarenna and I finally got our pots and pans in the mail, so we had to go grocery shopping! I promise there is fresh produce at the bottom of the cart; 

our last stop was just the frozen food section. 

A week's worth of food

My first night out in DC! 

Aman, Nick, Annie, and Henry

The Metro system gets easier!
Tip: buy a Smartrip card, make an online account for automatic payments to ensure that you never have to use those silly machines.

Subway Ride

I am finally settled into my apartment with everything unpacked, and the kitchen stocked. 

One thing that I learned and am so grateful for this experience is the independence. 

Finding my own apartment, signing the lease, shopping for apartment items, installing the Internet, and more, made me realize how difficult it is to live on my own. But, on the bright side, I learned my mistakes and know what to look for and what needs to be done for my next home (after the CMC dorms, of course). 

 And that concludes my first week in DC!

I wish I would have...

As the semester winds down several of us are beginning our "I'm sad to leave, but happy to home" talks. Which naturally inspires the "I wish I would have..." conversations. Ironically, I think back to our on-campus orientation with K.Mallory and it seems like the Spring DC Class of 2013 wishes they have done a lot of the same things as our predecessors wished for.

Looking back on the semester, I can say I really had an exceptional experience. In addition to the regular program requirements, my 'extra-curricular' activities included chatting with governors, meeting journalists, publishing articles in Forbes, volunteering with the Children's Defense Fund, and attending hearings at SCOTUS and Hart about issues I really care about. While these are all incredible experiences there are a few things that I wish I would have known coming here and that I would have done differently.

I wish I would have...

• spent more time with the group - outside of class. Just as there is no other place and learning experience like CMC, there is no other place like DC or experience like the DC Program.

Coming on this program as a junior, I somewhat felt like my friend group at CMC had already been established and I didn't really need to branch out. Although I was able to make friends with the other interns in my office and I had a great time in DC, I wish I would have formed more lasting friendships with the people who will be going back to CMC with me. After all,  when we do get back to campus these are the people who will really understand the impact of this experience because we shared similar struggles throughout the program. 

• lived in DC. It seriously made a difference for me. Even if rent in Virginia and Maryland may be cheaper, you'll end up paying the difference in taxi rides, social life, and most of all your time. 

For me, the biggest issue with living in Virginia was transportation. I lived in a nice Arlington neighborhood, accessible by bus, and I worked in the building above the Rosslyn Metro stop.While getting around from work wasn't an issue having to rely on the buses from home was a horror. I spent hours of my day commuting and waiting for buses - it was seriously awful. *In DC (and especially in VA and MD) the buses run late and/or early, sometimes they don't come, and waiting for buses in the winter is no fun.**There are some cool places around the Courthouse/Clarendon area if you want to try something new

Similarly, I wish I would have lived with other people on the program. Lesson learned: live with people who you can trust, who you will enjoy spending time with, and people who understand the program. This directly relates to the points listed above, but in short I wish I missed my C-mont community and having friends nearby. Also, I decided to live with random people I found on Craigslist (because it was cheap) and they ended up being psychos who made me move out during the middle of finals. 

• taken advantage of DC events. No matter what your in to DC's got it. In fact there is so much, you may want to plan it out 

Don't get to the end of the semester and realize there are lists of things you wanted to do. If you have to, commit time on the weekends to exploring the city and the neighboring areas. And don't just stick to the National Mall or the really big museums/ attractions. Some of my personal recommendations:

• Go to a concert: some of my favs are the 9:30 Club (bit of a range), Black Cat (Indie-ish), or the U Street Music Hall (founded by two prominent DJs) ...these happen to all be near U Street 
• See a sporting event: Watch a hockey, baseball or basketball game *People from the NOVA/DC/MD area love the Capitals and the Nationals and they will take over the Metro before and after the games
• Attend a lecture at Busboys and Poets and Prose and Politics. Think-tank talks and hearings are great and all but its fun to mix it up occasionally. Busboys is a bar and restaurant attached to the a small bookstore. During the day its a great place to hang out with other college kids, drink coffee and do work; by night it's a busy restaurant /bar; on the weekends there are socially minded groups that meet in the lounge, and sometimes speakers are invited to host small events. Prose and Politics is a bit more like Montely meets the Ath. It is a huge bookstore and coffee shop that frequently hosts a range of speakers and sometimes musicians.    
• Music/ Art/ Food/ Film festivals: There are a lot. I recommend the Sweetlife Festival (Music), DCIFF (Indie Films), and Filmfest DC (International Films)
• Volunteer: Some of my more interesting and inspiring moments this semester have stemmed from my volunteer experiences here. Although I wasn't able to make regular volunteer commitments I was able to spend a day volunteering at different organizations and festivals. Along with giving me an opportunity to help out the community, I was able to engage with organizations that interested me and network with new people. 

Spring Break in the District

Experiencing SCOTUS

The Supreme Court of the United States, like most offices within the federal government, offers free entrance and tours to visitors. And, as part of the CMC Program Orientation, Dr. Spalding typically arranges an opportunity for the class to visit the Court and meet with some of the clerks during the visit...

Some of the more touristy features of the Court include touching the foot of John Marshal in hopes of gaining some good luck during law school. 

... however, no tour or visit to the Court can match experiencing the Court in action especially during controversial cases dealing with the Constitutionality of legislation like California's Prop 8 and the US Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). 

Getting In

Most people, as I've come to realize, are not aware that the Court hearings are open to all members of the general public. This is probably because the majority of the seating in the Court is reserved for lawyers and witnesses of the case, members of the Supreme Court Bar and member of the press. As a result, the 'gen pop' must often wait in long lines and sometimes even camp out for several days in order to gain a ticket. 

Day Two of my urban camping adventure. Credit for this photo belongs to the European Pressphoto Agency.   

On Sunday night, after the line (which began on Thursday night) had extended for more than one block, reporters from around the world became eager to understand why people were so interested in waiting in line. After all wait really was insane, not to mention cold, wet, and dirty. 

Through the misery of waiting in line, I became friends with the people around me. Among them was a law student from Boston, Massachusetts who was there because of his interest in Constitutional Law and to show support for equal rights. Also present was an Army veteran and equal rights activist from Mountain View, California who wanted the right to marry her longtime partner; and, a couple from New York City who had been following the DOMA case since the District Court hearing. Like the woman from California, the New Yorkers also wanted the right to marry and enjoy the federal benefits of married people - including the right to sponsor a person for citizenship. 

In the time we spent waiting in line, we chatted about where we came from, why we were there and our predictions about the Court's ruling. While I could have stayed home and read about the different stakeholder groups that where interested in the cases and I could have read incredibly intelligent people's predictions about the cases, I chose to camp out during some of DC's worst winter weather alongside a group of strangers; because I personally felt that this was an important piece of my understanding and promotion of civil rights. The people I met in my time camping out were all there for different reasons and they each uniquely affected my understanding of the impact of  Prop 8, DOMA, and eventually the Court's ruling on individual people - which was probably the most incredible and valuable piece of my experience.

 

I've got the Golden Red Ticket

At seven thirty Tuesday morning, after having camped outside the Court since Sunday afternoon, a Supreme Court officer distributed the long sought after tickets. 

After waiting in line for 3 days, I was given ticket number 38.
This picture was taken as the first 50 people waited to enter the Court.  

The excitement of entering the Court didn't really set in until I stood at the top of the marble staircase in front of the Court holding my ticket - at which point the group of friends I had made cheered and hugged.

Once inside, we had an opportunity to have breakfast in the SCOTUS cafeteria and freshen up before we went into the Court room.

In side the Court, I sat in the first row reserved for the general public - just across from the Lt. Governor of California ;) 

As I do not mean for this to be a political post, I won't discuss the argument details of the hearing (a full transcript can be found at the Supreme Court's website). However, I will note, one of the more interesting insights that I had was of the Justice's themselves. Prior to attending the hearing, I gave little consideration to who the Justice's were and how even in a removed context, each one of them seemed to represent certain groups/ factions of America. Additionally, I never expected the Justice's to have nearly as much personality or sharp humor as they expressed during either of the hearings.  

Leaving the Court

At the end of the hearing, I walked out the center doors of the Court and stood in amazement as I looked down on the crowd that had amassed during the hearing. 

Demonstrators outside of the Court on March 26. 

While my mind was busy trying to process the Justice's concerns and the arguments being made, I decided I needed to take a moment to de-brief and process what had just happened. Instead I walked down the steps of the Court and was immediately swarmed by reporters wanting a personal perspective of the case and activists who wanted to know what just happened. One woman in particular was not shy about her demands to know if the Court would grant the case Cert and make a decision (a common fear among those who support marriage equality). 

Round Two - DOMA

After collecting all my stuff on Tuesday afternoon, I needed to sleep in a proper bed and I really needed a warm shower. So, I headed for home knowing that I'd return early the next morning to watch the Court hear the DOMA case. 

Waiting in line to enter the Court on Wednesday, March 27. 

 Like the Prop 8 case, as I waited in line (although this time for a much shorter time) I chatted with the people around me. Additionally, on Wednesday I had the opportunity to enjoy more of the outside demonstrations.

Although I was unwilling to camp out another

night, I was able to get into the three minute line 

and see some of the DOMA case.

In addition to offered tickets to listen in on the entire hearing, there is also a 3 minute line for people who cannot afford to wait in line or people who merely want a glimpse of the Court at work.

After having a chance to hear the cases and see the Court in action, I was eager to go home and begin a much needed relaxing Spring Break filled with sleep, TV, delivery food and more sleep.