Tomorrow

I only have a few days left in DC. After turning in my portfolio, I am making my last moves in this city. There are a few things I would like to check out in the next few days. I am going to the Air and Space Museum located in Dulles. That’s the one that has the “Blackbird” from the transformers movie as well as one of the space shuttles.

I will probably be going to the Kennedy Center for one last free show. A walk through the National Mall is a must to say goodbye to the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. And finally a last walk through the Mt. Vernon trail, right in the edge of the Potomac on a sunny day will remind me of the beautiful sight.

I have kept the contact information of many of the other TWC interns. Like me, they cannot believe how fast the time has gone. But also like me they understand how rich this experience has been and that, like everything in life, it is coming to an end.

I will miss the everyday walks to the office. I have done some of the most exciting work of my life here. A lot of pressure, a lot of deadlines and projects, but the work was great. I am very proud of what we accomplished here every day at the office, as well as the personal and professional relationships we started and I am sure will continue to foster throughout the years.

And as a blogger, I am really excited about having written for some of the students interested in the program. My friends both from school and in Washington told me how much they liked my posts.

I will be writing one last post before I leave Washington. In the meantime, for those who are coming in the spring, get ready because a big year is coming up and this city will need its interns one more time.

Time to say goodbye at the office.

In the next week, TWC students will be saying goodbye to their respective offices. At Chwat & Co., we have a tradition of writing a memo to the next interns about our experiences as well as what we should expect from the city, the Political Leadership Program and our work in the office.

I remember the first week when we had to read the memos written by former interns. Some of them were very detailed, some of them not. But what all of them had in common was that they told us how the type of experience we would have in Washington, D.C. would depend on where each of us wanted to take this internship. If you want to be just a tourist, that would be ok, but I would recommend you go beyond that.

Beyond the museums and monuments, this is city that is as diverse as America itself. From Adams Morgan to Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria to Columbia Heights; each part of the city and its surrounding area has its own character. For example, my experience of Washington’s music, cuisine, arts and entertainment has showed me a microcosm of America and of the world. And in a city where some of the most powerful people in government and business reside, you will find people who work on issues that are big and small. So for those who will come after me, enjoy it.

Portfolio ready

Here is a picture of the cover from my portfolio!

Working on the portfolio

The Washington Center requires students to assemble a portfolio that shows the work they have accomplished during their time in Washington, DC. The portfolio is a combination of the programming assignments, your own assessments about the internship and the classes you took, as well as the civic engagement activities you participated in throughout the past months.

Two portfolios will be turned in to The Washington Center; they both have to be spiral bound copies. One will be sent to your school and the other will remain in The Washington Center’s archives. If you like, you can make a copy for your personal use.

During the semester, I saved all my documents. In the past week, I have been working on my portfolio. Looking over it gives me an interesting perspective on the different personal, professional academic and civic engagement goals I set out to achieve at the beginning of the semester.

I found it important to review all the goals I had set out to do, whether they were accomplished or not, because this has been an opportunity to learn not only from what you have done right but also from some of your mistakes. I’ll keep you posted on my portfolio and take a few pictures for you guys to get an idea of how it would look like.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

...but we still went out and enjoyed that day--the day when it finally snowed in DC. As someone who lives in Florida I only get to see snow…cones. I was not the only one, some of the students from the Mexican and Puerto Rican internship programs were also for the first time experiencing it.

And after talking with my friend Joel from PR during the week about the possibility of seeing some snow on the first Saturday of December, we both knew (although we never actually agreed) that the first one to see snow on that morning was going to call the other one. I woke up around 10ish and while it was cold and a little rainy it was not snowing, went back to my bed when…I got his called to go upstairs and experience the light snow that it had just started.

Needless to say, we enjoyed our first day of snow, took pictures and even threw snow balls at each other. They hurt! And of course we had to go to the National Mall for more snow and pictures, right guys!?!  

And while the snow was not so strong any more I had a chance to explore the National Air and Space Museum. I was awed by the number of space artifacts they have stored there. From the module that brought the Apollo 11 astronauts back home from the moon to Spaceship One. I had the theme music of the TV show “Enterprise” playing in my head the whole time….yep big Star Trek fan here.

The museum also included a large number of artifacts from WWI and WWII, both from the Pacific and European theaters. It was the section on the Japanese attack to Pearl Harbor which interested the most to a lot of us, especially since the anniversary of the attack was the next week.

The end of our adventures is near but it was good to begin the ending of this semester on that note!

Let the Christmas holiday season begin!!!

On Thanksgiving week, some of the interns who live in Braddock and I decided to get together for a holiday meal. Each of us would bring a couple of dishes for the meal and we would all chip in for the pre-cooked turkey. I brought rice and also made yams with marshmellows. The turkey was great and at the end with all the dishes everyone brought we had rolls, stuffing, a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese as well as some very tasty apple pie!

This was a night to give thanks for the opportunity to explore DC and learn so much in our stay in the nation’s capital. And at the end, we had enough food left over for each of us to take to our apartments and enjoy it during this long holiday weekend.

During that same week I found a link to the National Harbor’s website, where their annual Christmas tree lighting and fireworks show was been advertised. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, several artists were scheduled to perform at this free event. And after finding how to get to the Harbor using both the green line Metro and the bus, I made my way to a very windy and chilly evening. But it was all worth it! The musical performances, the Christmas tree light show and to finish it off, the fireworks were really impressive.
And best of all once I got to the apartment, my Thanksgiving dinner leftovers were waiting for me.

Check out the video!!!

What should I expect about TWC housing?

In the past days I have been receiving messages on facebook from potential Washington Center interns who want to find out more about the housing provided. And while I cannot speak for all the buildings in which students live I can let you know a few things about the rooms in Meridian at Braddock Station and my apartment.

One thing I can ask you to do, regardless of where you will be living is to take a look at the Washington, DC Metro map. Start clicking around their website and you will find a trip planner and information on the SmartTrip card, which you should get at any DC-area CVS and then add money to it in order to go through the entrance of the Metro faster than the guy who has to add money every time he needs to go somewhere. The Metro will not wait for you, and unless it is rush hour you will have to wait a minimum of 15 minutes for the next one.

I am in Alexandria, northern Virginia and only a few steps from the Metro station. Other interns live in Maryland, and TWC is in the process of constructing an apartment building in the District. At my building we do not have computer labs, so for those who want to know if they should bring their laptops the answer is yes. How about internet? Well, you may get really lucky and have a neighbor who for some reason has not locked his/her wireless connection which you can use as I have heard some students have been able to do. But I would rather suggest that you bring your own wireless modem and connect it to the internet cable that is located in the living room. Just make sure to tell your roommates to either chip in for the device or the 4 of you can buy one the first week you get there.

My room has a dinning table, not a desk. We have four chairs, two sofas and a living room table. In the kitchen you will find cutlery, 3 pots and one pan, a teapot, a coffeemaker, a toaster, microwave, refrigerator, more than enough plates, the same with the glass cups and coffee cups. I bought one of those pans that don’t let food stick since I have a habit of cooking in order to save money (hint to what you should also do) and non-sticky pans work for me. There is a can opener and a waffle maker also. Oh and a dishwasher. I didn’t use one before, but I have to tell you this one works pretty well. Regardless, I'd rather wash my dishes, dry them and put them back in the cabinet rather than waiting for the dishwasher to be full to have the dishes washed.

What else? My bedroom has one dresser with 4 drawers and one nightstand with two drawers, a walk-in closet and a bathroom, which has a bathtub. You've got a washer and dryer as well in one separate room. Plus the broom, mop and iron with the ironing table, finally….the television with basic cable.

If you are looking to buy things once you get there you should check out the Potomac Yard Shopping Center which is located say…a good 25 minutes away from the apartments if you walk. Maybe you might want to get a cab on the way back, depending on much you bought. There you will find lots of stores; a Shoppers supermarket with low prices, a Target, a Subway, a place to get a haircut, etc. There is also a store called Giant which is closer to the building. When you get there before you buy anything go to the counter and get the “Giant discount card.” I now I sound like a commercial, but you will see the discounts.

I think that was a lot of details, so now go ahead copy and paste this post to Word, print it, make a list, start thinking about what you will be bringing and be relieved about knowing some of the stuff you will find in one of the apartments where TWC will house you.

You may even get free coffee in the morning!

From Earth to the Moon

A few days ago NASA gave us one more reason to look up into the sky and in doing so, take a second look at what we really know about our closest neighbor. Evidence of water on the Moon recently found by crashing a probe into its surface has everyone rethinking the possibilities that will arise as scientists all over the world begin to cope with this reality.

Meanwhile in Washington, it is the interns who in the last few days have aimed at landing jobs in our nation’s capital. There are those whose internship placements will be hiring someone at the end of the year and whose bosses will be choosing between this semester’s interns to fill that position. There are those whose supervisors have left their positions for whatever reason and whose bosses at their internship placements will likely hire one of the interns who by now has months of experience at the organization. And then there are some who are as proactive as the NASA scientists and will be “crashing” into every office (that is every office on the Hill) with their resume, looking under any rock to see whether they can also find their own water on the Moon.

I have gotten these examples by talking with TWC students and/or alumni who have told me about these and other incredible stories about how they landed their jobs right after interning in DC.

TWC encourages us to be proactive in looking for job opportunities. At the same time their program's final portfolio requires us to conduct an informational interview. Informational interviews are used by interns to find someone in the profession in which they are interested and to learn about either the day-to-day operations of the work of a legislative director in the House, the post-college path a current non-profit president took, the real time spent on the job if you work in a law firm, etc.

Moreover, people love to talk about themselves and to be helpful to others who are, like they once were, unpaid interns trying to make it. You can receive lots of advice and find out about their professional experiences.

Here's some guidance if you do an informational interview in Washington. To find an interviewee, send an e-mail to or call those whose connections you have made either during TWC networking opportunities, your job, a long trip on the Metro or maybe at a restaurant or bar. Try to ask for 15 to 20 minutes to sit down with him/her at their convenience; you don’t want to burn any bridges. You want to make it clear that you're not trying to solicit a job interview. Tell them you need advice and ask open-ended questions. What do you enjoy about your job? What does your organization look for in a candidate? Should individuals attend particular schools or study within specific academic programs in order to land a job in your field?

Finally, does he or she have other contacts that you can be referred to? Because one or two informational interviews is not enough—at least for me, I'm going to try to get as many as I can. Ten should be a good number for you to attempt.
We talked about networking before in different posts, and I cannot stress enough the importance of making your connections work for you. But it will be up to you! Don’t wait for water to show up on the Moon’s surface. Be proactive, dig deeper, and you will find opportunities you might have never expected to find, even in the most unlikely and remote places.

Getting to “Politics and Prose” after “Looking for Paradise”

Before I explain how I unexpectedly ended up at the bookstore “Politics and Prose” meeting and listening to Hendrik Hertzberg, the former speechwriter to President Carter and current staff writer and editor of the “New Yorker” magazine, talking about his new book Obámanos! The Birth of a New Political Era…with the whole thing been taped by C-Span, let me begin with how I solved a problem earlier in the day…just follow me here ok? It will all come together at the end…

Early morning and the boss gave us all a big project for the day; we were off to Capitol Hill with lots of important documents to work on and stuff to do. It was going to take us a while but we knew we had it down, the problem was….I had cooked at home the night before and I was not looking forward to buying lunch and spending more money. So once we finished the project and attended the Political Leadership Program programming for the day –which consisted of an “in-district lobbying” training by the progressive organization Campus Progress, I was glad to find a little table where I enjoyed my lunch… I had no shame in bringing my lunch to the Monday programming because, let’s face it; the big elephant in the room is solving the following question: How are we going to feed ourselves in Washington without having to spend too much money? Let’s remember; we are not getting paid…so cooking on the weekend for Monday and Tuesday is my way to do it.

Now that I got that off my chest….

As I wrote earlier we, the office interns took a trip to the Hill using the Metro, an early trip. It was during that trip that to my surprise I saw a picture of Alejandro Sanz –a singer from Spain whose career I’ve been following for like 10 years, on the cover of the free and widely circulated daily Washington DC newspaper “Express”. It was not my newspaper, someone had left the wrinkled newspaper beside the seat (we are not supposed to leave anything in the Metro; they have recycle bins made especially for newspapers). Now, I’m a big fan of this guy but even I didn’t think he would end up at the cover of the paper. But apparently the people at “Express” thought otherwise and featured a very nice piece on his new single “Looking for Paradise” which features Alicia Keys, from his new album Paraiso Express.

It was this unexpected but welcomed encounter with Sanz, which made my eyes glaze over another interesting piece located alongside. Well, the key words for me here were Obama, engaging book, presidential campaign, New Yorker magazine, and the quote “offering incisively analytical and exactingly penned commentary”. But what made the sell for me was “…Hendrik will appear at “Politics and Prose” tonight to discuss his work”. Enough said, it was early Monday and by then my only concern was finding time to eat my homemade lunch and we all know how that story ended. I didn’t know this was one of those “C-Span bookstores”, where they tape the author speaking about his or her book and then show it on the weekends. I’m one of those students who chooses to watch C-Span while having my younger brother make fun of me for watching “Book TV” as he mistakenly calls it.

I do have to admit one thing, for a while there I confused Politics and Prose with Busboys and Poets. I know…it’s bad. How did I do that? I guess that my trip to the latter bookstore during my “Taste of DC” class was responsible for the confusion. Busboys and Poets–another place you must visit–is located two blocks from U Street using the Green Metro line and stopping at the U Street station.

Politics and Prose bookstore

Nevertheless, after going over the article again and realizing that Politics and Prose was located by the Van Ness Metro station on the red line, I made it with time to spare. I should have taken the bus from the station but the day had given me enough confusion and I was not about to tempt fate, so I figured I read the street numbers as I walked. Next time I am letting the L1 or L2 buses do the almost 1 mile trip.

It was a pleasure to meet and listen to Mr. Hertzberg, I didn’t know he worked in the Carter administration. And while he spoke and answered questions regarding his book, he also made some interesting points regarding the Carter administration and its Human Rights campaign efforts as well as about President Reagan, Premier Gorbachev and the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event celebrating its 20th anniversary that day.

Hendrik Hetzberg; author, editor of the New Yorker and former Pres. Carter speechwriter

He also had some interesting commentary about how we shouldn’t just “worship” the founding fathers of America but we should try to imitate them and start to look at the system of government the same way the founders would. Making the case that President Obama is up against an “18th century political technology” where the system is really the biggest obstacle to his reforms.

For more information about events at “Politics and Prose” check out their Events Calendar.

A very exciting day that I’m happy to have shared with you all as my blog title says “step by step”.

Between Poetry and Prose…it’s all in the details.

If you are following the news you know that besides the World Series people are also reflecting on the one year anniversary of President Obama’s historic election…. Some say he is not living up to the campaign promises and the change he called for during that fall, while others make the case that he has lived up to those promises within the realities of governing.

A year after the election of Barack Obama I find myself in Washington DC, and unlike a year ago, I am no longer campaigning for the candidate but working in an office that deals with the proposals and legislation of his administration and his party’s Congress.

Election night 2008. Today I have a better understanding of the realities of the governing that come after the campaigning.

At my internship at Chwat and Co. we deal with both poetry and prose, campaigning and governing. Perhaps a little bit more in the governing side than the campaigning side but as a government relations firm…ok lobbying firm, we work with several pieces of legislation, while also creating campaigns and strategies that present a desired goal to both clients and legislators.

I have said it repeatedly; I like the job placement I have, I enjoy getting to the office, doing my job and having my morning meetings with the other interns and the people at the office. And I do so because my job has tough me so many things about governing; the many little details and how much they count to try to pass any given piece of legislation. Moreover, by working on finding the best strategies to present our campaigns to both clients and legislators I am very excited about the prospect of using all of those techniques I am learning to help my community.

At the same time, with the help of Political Leadership Program, I’ve been presented with numerous networking opportunities. To those looking forward to interning in DC I say that it will be up to you to make those connections work to your benefit in the future. And remember that your experience as a whole in DC will depend on your decisions and the way you want to take on your 15 weeks. From taking a minute out of your day to look for community service events to do, to finding public hearings on issues you are passionate about. It can all be done but by doing your homework and making that extra effort, which I think it can always be done especially when one has a one in a lifetime opportunity to be part of the capital of the US as young students.

Going back to the whole campaigning/governing thing; on election night 2008 and hours after the election was called and the speeches were made and the people stopped hugging each other….I went back to my car and realized that this whole time the keys were locked inside of it. So just like finding out the little details that show the realities of governing once the campaign is over; to me knowing that I had left my keys inside my car brought me back from an exciting night to my own reality….it’s all in the details.

From a chili dog on U Street to a Gala with Bob Schieffer… I love October!!!

We are midway through the semester and in the week before my birthday temperatures dropped to the low 40’s here in DC. But later as my family visited from south Florida temperatures rose again…. I know, I sound like a weatherman.
I still went around town, with my umbrella and new gloves.
My “Taste of DC” class took me to U Street, where we ate at the legendary Ben’s Chilli Bowl before I had to do my presentation on the Duke Ellington mural. They say that if you have not been to Ben’s for a hot dog and chili, you have not been to D.C. Plain and simple. So much history at this place--it was one of the cornerstones of the golden years of the African American community of DC in the 50’s and it was the only business that remained opened during the ’68 riots in Washington. Sadly, Ben Ali the founder of the store passed away the day after we toured the placed.

With “Ben’s Chilli Bowl” historian, right across from Duke Ellington’s mural at the True Reformer Building

Another one of my class journeys took me to Washington’s National Cathedral. The longest-running construction project in Washington; started in 1907 and finished in 1990. Although work continues to be done, the National Cathedral continues to be a place of worship for those who seek a greater understanding of their faith. When you go there you want to get to the 7th floor…it’s a nice view.

That same weekend I went along with my family to Washington. Saturday wasn’t that cold so going around the mall with them was pretty enjoyable.
Finally, on Monday the 19th I joined a group of interns who were invited to “The Washington Center Gala 2009” at the National Building Museum. During the Gala and under the theme “In Service of a Nation” The Washington Center recognized the many ways in which individuals can impact nations and society through civic engagement.
In attendance were a number of alumni as well as presidents of universities. Bob Schieffer was the master of ceremonies and I had a chance to speak with him for a little while. We also got to see a design of the new TWC housing facility already under construction.

With the two interns I work with and alongside Bob Schieffer from CBS’s Face the Nation.

A group picture with some of TWC interns after the Gala

A great few last days, and we are already midway through the semester. I am ready to make the best of what’s left of the semester.
Next time I’ll give you some more insights into my internship and the programming at TWC.

“Ok, so who is going to New York this weekend?”

I don’t know who wrote it first but the question was floating around on TWC students facebook statuses early last week. Columbus Day was coming up, and I was among the interns who wanted to go away for the long holiday weekend. In order to save money, I tried to confirm who was really going to share the price for the hotel room, because I knew that several had the intention but not many had confirmed. I was able to find 3 other TWC students: one from Puerto Rico and two from Mexico. Neither one of them had visited New York City before so I knew they would really enjoy their visit.

It was my second time visiting New York, I had the chance to visit it and represent FAU as a delegate for the National Model United Nations Conference in the spring of 2008, but this time I was not going because of work but for pleasure. The price for the bus ticket was $18 each way and the bus took around 4 hours; it dropped us a few blocks from Times Square on Friday evening.

I recommend planning for a trip like far in advance; I did not. I had a good time in the city as I visited places like the top of the Empire State Building, took the Staten Island Ferry (it's free and it passes by the Statue of Liberty--a good choice since getting to the actual statue is booked until Jan 2010), walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get a nice view of Manhattan, and of course walked through Canal Street (where Chinatown and Little Italy are located).

Eating at “Caffe Napoli” in Little Italy, from left to right: Cristina, Miralys, myself and Lucero

Another tip is to go around the city with the fewest people. Why? Because people have different paces, some might want to put more emphasis on museums others might want to spend the afternoon watching a Broadway show. I went to all the places I wanted to while knowing that the two girls I was with would appreciate all the locations I wanted to visit. The other girl chose to go on her own (she is a fast walker). I took my time to check both the city and subway maps, and you should too! Therefore I felt more comfortable to go around the city as everyone's unofficial “tour guide”. We took the red double-decker buses that go to city’s attractions, since it allowed us to stay in a location as long as we wanted and later hop on the next bus to continue our tour.

Top of Empire State Building, Manhattan in the background

I enjoyed New York very much this past weekend, but it can be pricey when you do not plan ahead. TWC interns, if you have not had the chance of visiting it you should definitely do it. Why? I think that students who are looking forward to learning through new experiences and who have an opportunity to visit New York City can learn lots from witnessing and taking part of the city’s unique culture--a truly American culture.

On the Staten Island Ferry, Lady Liberty in the background”

An excellent start to my birthday week. I’ll find something to do for the actual day on Friday, and then my family is coming up from south Florida on Saturday (although this Saturday will be one of the two Saturdays I have a “Taste of DC’ class scheduled for the weekend). It will be a little hectic but I’m sure I’ll make it work!

At Federal Hall, where in April 30, 1789 George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States

Here comes October!!!

I love October so far! Not just because my birthday is coming up, but the work at Chwat & Co. is really challenging and exciting, my class keeps providing me with more ways to enjoy DC, I have networked with dozens of people, plus I am having a great time with the new friends I have made. I’m expecting October to get even better as time goes on.

Recently, I was able to visit some monuments and memorials in the city. In just one afternoon I went to the WWII, FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam War and Korean War Memorials. Finishing the afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial was an extraordinary experience. As a student of history, you think about Lincoln’s lasting legacy in this country; then you look down and you see the place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood as he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Images of the countless protest and demonstrations that have taken place begin to play in your head and for a moment there you try to take it all in. Quite an experience!

Lincoln Memorial and World War II Memorial

Networking in DC!

I also had a chance to network with a number of Latino leaders during the annual Latino Leaders Network Luncheon. Soledad O’Brien from CNN was the keynote speaker and she spoke about how hard it was for her to work in a business where years ago the name “Soledad” was not a name people were familiar with in television, as well as her upcoming “Latino in America” book and CNN documentary. She also made the point that because of our sometimes mixed heritage, people try define us and how important it is not to let that happen. Many national Latino leaders from business and government gathered at the Capital Hilton Hotel for this event. I was able to have a word with the president of “La Raza” about the fate of immigration reform as well as with members of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division who attended. At the end of the evening I was able to schedule some meetings with members from the Department of Education after speaking to them about my work with ENLACE Florida, an organization that works to improve education in Florida. The Washington Center mentioned networking was a big part of the whole D.C. experience and I am glad to have done my share of networking during that evening.

CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and me

Latino Festival of Washington

I’ve attended several Latino festivals in south Florida; back in Boca Raton we took students to Miami’s “Calle 8 festival” to show them a taste of the Latino culture in the U.S. On the last Sunday of September, I took the Metro's yellow line to Columbia Heights and found myself at the Fiesta DC 2009 festival. This festival really impressed me; it was well organized, with a mixture of vivid colors and music that ranged from Argentinean tango to Afro-Peruvian music...plus there was a choice of food from the Caribbean, Central and South America. Check out the pictures and video!

Bolivian dances and Argentine tango

October just started, and if September is any indication, I'm sure that this month can be an even better experience if I do my best!

This past week we visited the Democratic and Republican National Committees in Washington, DC. On Mondays, TWC has Leadership Forum activities for students, and I'm part of the Political Leadership Program. This time our programming took us to the political centers of both parties. I expected both to sell us their ideas….the Dems super excited about how they are the “flavor of the month” and the GOP wooing us young interns to their side in search for the support they have been missing for the past 2 election cycles…eh it wasn’t all like that.

At the DNC we were welcomed by Nicole Aro, the DNC’s director of new media, who talked to us about the work they do at the DNC and how important new media like (YouTube, facebook, etc) has become to political parties, candidates and elections and how Twitter was instrumental in getting news out of Iran in the summer.

Some students asked if the administration was collecting all the info they received from the campaign website. She try to dissipate those rumors by explaining how Organizing for America (the successor of Obama for America) is not the Obama administration…although the colors and Obama pictures on the website don’t really help much. I asked if the DNC had any plans to get all those people who volunteered in the last election to once again help the Democrats in a non-election year. She mentioned how it took them months of work to get the incredible amount of volunteers they had last year and that their “Organizing for America” was coming along slow but steady.

We were then off to the RNC. They rolled out the red carpet for us. We were met by Jan Larimer, the RNC Co-Chair. Again we talked about new media, how she believes Obama’s healthcare plan is not good and about their new plans to regain leadership in Congress. We then slipped into two groups; one took a tour of the building (check out the pics) while the other had the opportunity to speak with one of their organizers.

I finished off the evening by going with some of my new friends to Tortilla Coast, a Mexican restaurant across from the RNC building.

Jan Larimer, RNC Co-Chair

My Class
Last time I mentioned how through The Washington Center you have to register for a class. Classes are once a week in the evening from 6:30 to maybe 9-9:30 and the days vary depending of each of the classes. I chose a class called “A Taste of DC”. After we met the first week of class we learned how we would be going around several parts of DC to learn more about the city. We had a quick introduction on how DC is divided and went over the history of how DC ended up as the location for the capital.
Last Wednesday our class took us to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which is right on Pennsylvania Avenue. From there we walked to Freedom Plaza where we learned more about the history of Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the city. We spent some time at the Willard Hotel (where MLK Jr. spent the night before giving his “I have a Dream Speech”), Lafayette Plaza in front of the White House and we ended early at the Blair House, the official guest house for the President.
Every building, every plaza, every statue has its own story. And as the teacher shared some of those stories with us, I realized how special it was to be in a class where instead of opening a book to look at pictures, we had the opportunity to walk through all that history.

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Having class at Freedom Plaza

I will leave you with a quick video of my class as we walk through Lafayette Square on Wednesday class.

Bye!

Welcome, Everyone!!!

I want to welcome you to my blog. I am pretty excited to have been selected to share my experiences with you all. I was a big fan of the previous TWC bloggers and I learned a few things that really helped me as I prepared for DC. Once I was admitted to the Political Leadership Program earlier this year I began to wonder about the housing, the internship opportunities, the class I was going take, what kind of work I would have to do for TWC, how to enjoy the city the best way possible, etc. And while The Washington Center does a decent job of letting you know what you will expect once you arrive to DC, it doesn’t hurt to get a perspective of what you’ll expect from a student who is going through those experiences step by step.

I’ll use my blog to share with you my personal experiences while also shining some light onto the different aspects of TWC experience as a whole. I’ll do my best to keep my blog interesting enough for you to come back every week. I try to take my camera with me everywhere I go so you will be seeing pictures and video recordings that hopefully will give you a better idea of what to expect if you think this is something you want to do next semester.

For now let me talk to you about some of events I have attended for TWC. Since I arrived last Wednesday, I’ve taken part of my Political Leadership Program orientation first at the TWC main office in DC, as well as of an orientation/opening for all students at the Carnegie Institute for Science on Friday the 4th. Juan Williams--an author, NPR and FOX News contributor--spoke to us during the opening ceremony. He had some very interesting comments about the kind of changing environment we were witnessing. An environment where now women make up most of the workforce in the United States, and where (according to him) new communication technologies make it a lot harder for different waves of immigrants to completely leave aside their ties with their countries of origin and thus challenging our political leaders to make working policies in this changing America.

I found his comments very interesting; I wish I could say the same about a couple of the questions that were asked to him in the Q&A segment (too much rambling, just ask the question already!!) but in the overall a very nice start to what I hope will be an exciting semester.
I will leave you with a picture I managed to get with Juan Williams as he was leaving and a little video of some of his comments about immigration and healthcare.

TWC Headquarters

Political Leadership Orientation

I have a lot more details on my housing and my internship placement, as well as pictures and videos to share so I hope you’ll be back for my next post. Don’t be shy and post any questions, comments or look me up on facebook if there is something in particular you would like to know.
Until the next time!

Pre-Arrival

It’s been a few months since I was accepted to TWC but it was only until this week that I finally made my decision on where to work as an intern during this upcoming fall. Let me use this opportunity to share a little of what went on before making my decision to intern with Chwat & Company, Inc.
As a political science undergraduate student I was very excited to be admitted to the Political Leadership Program at TWC. But once the period of telling my family and friends about this exciting news ended, I began to worry about which DC offices or companies would want to have me as an intern. My goal was an internship in an office that concentrated in government relations with the U.S. Congress, and to be honest I knew that my experience in local and state government would be one of my resume strengths, but I also knew that the students admitted to TWC had just as much or perhaps even more experience than I did.
Before I had my first phone interview, I asked one of my friends to help me by having a mock phone interview with me. He would record it and then we would listen to the interview to find out whether I was speaking too fast or if I needed to be louder for the real deal. I had some experience in phone interviews since I had taken part in a university search committee for our Dean of Students where we had to phone interview several candidates. Based on that experience, I felt more comfortable about how the interviews would be. Among the things I learned was to use a home phone line rather than a cell phone because it was more likely that the signal could be lost during the interview if I used a cell phone.
Once the first e-mails from offices interested in me reached my inbox, I began doing some research on those companies’ websites and their work. I also contacted my advisor Nick, who gave me an idea of the sort of work I would be doing in some of those offices based on previous intern’s experiences. He explained to me which companies would have me doing more administrative work (filing, making copies, doing statistics, etc) than anything else, and which ones would really be better in providing a more hands-on experience for me. I would recommend that you maintain constant communication with your TWC advisor and find answers to any questions you have about your internship. If he or she doesn’t know, he or she will direct you to someone who knows at TWC.
During my interviews I was able to talk about my experience in state and local government as well as my university involvement with confidence. I found it very helpful to always have in front of me copies of the documents I sent to TWC such as my resume, essays, etc. Some of the interviews lasted a little more than half and hour, while some no more than twenty minutes. And in some of the interviews the current intern or interns were present which allowed me to ask them about the kind of work they had done as interns in their respective positions.
Finally, after a final consultation with my advisor, I decided to accept the offer by the government relations firm of Chwat & Company, Inc., coincidentally on the day of the Sonia Sotomayor Senate confirmation. As a first generation Hispanic college student involved in politics and government I enjoyed that day twice as much and it reminded me of how thanks to my hard work and dedication I was about to embark in my own new challenge in Washington.