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.