Colin Powell, John McCain, and Memorial Day: A Recap of my first week in the Nation's Capital.

I have now been a resident of DC for 8 days! To say I’m obsessed with this place would be an understatement. Thinking of everything I’ve done this week kind of made me overwhelmed, because I feel like so much has happened and that I’m a native, except for the fact that I still get lost almost everyday (minor detail). So what have I done you ask?

On Monday, I started my first day of work for a congressman. First we met the other interns, there are 4 of us, and then we went to tour training. This was slightly overwhelming because there is so much information to know about the capitol. Having gone on capitol tours before, I basically assumed the tour guides were pros. However, I quickly found out that tour guides are interns that went to a 3 hour training, or less, and if in a bind its easy to make things up… Not recommending this, just saying. We are definitely not experts. Then, we went to training for a software we use to communicate with our constituents called iconstituent. After that we returned to the office and we could leave. Monday also consisted of a surprise visitor, one of my best friends, Jenn! She was flying back to FW and amidst the tornadoes and canceled flights found herself stuck in the airport, so came to stay with me, it was fun, even if only for 8 hours!

Tuesday was my first real day! I shadowed a tour which takes about 2.5 hours and then worked on writing letters and opened mail for the rest of the day. That sounds kind of mundane, but we definitely get some entertaining letters and phone calls.

On Wednesday, I finally met the congressperson I work for. Without disclosing who it is, they were very nice and knew me even though we’d never met. Everyone in our office is very friendly and welcoming.  

On Thursday, the highlight had to be running into John McCain! Friday, I had off so I attempted to go to the American History museum, however, ended up in a different quadrant so I did a lot of walking and ended up exploring Dupont Circle before getting lunch with my cousin, Jill. On Saturday, I actually made it to the American History Museum with my friend Whitney who graduated from Baylor. We also went to Eastern Market, which was fun! We then got brunch and that night hung out with some new friends. Sunday, I went to church with my friend Oghogho who is from Nigeria and works for USAID, she’s lived in DC for a year and a half so she’s very knowledgeable about the area. Sunday night was definitely a highlight of my week! Whitney works for Speaker Boehner so we were able to sit on the Speaker’s terrace which is basically a big balcony of the Capitol and watch the memorial day concert. The concert was sad because it featured lots of stories from veterans but it was also heartwarming and amazing to see the city from high up. When we were leaving the Capitol we ran into Colin Powell and in typical intern, starstruck fashion, we all whipped out our Iphones to take pics.

Colin Powell in the Capitol!

On the Speaker's Terrace at the Concert

That’s basically a recap of everything that’s happened this week besides a few minor details like running the monuments, which I don’t think will ever get old because they’re so beautiful. Running in the morning with a group and exploring the congressional cemetery, and getting lost multiple times. Everyone is super friendly and wants to know you for the most part, even the people who have lived here for a little while. Although some of us literally have nothing in common, most of the people I meet are interns and we all have lots of interesting stories from the hill. I am now at least familiar with a couple areas: Dupont, the hill, Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, and Columbia heights. Pretty sure there are at least 25 different neighborhoods in DC so it might take until December to even visit all of them. But good news, I can now get to work without consulting google maps. It consists of 0.7 miles and one right turn. Shows how directionally challenged I am at times!

Halfway through College and DC's First Impressions

So, its been a little while since I blogged and I got slightly overwhelmed when I thought about everything that has happened in the past 3 weeks and how long my blog would have to be to talk about everything! But I’ll try to be concise.

First, I finished my sophomore year at TCU and I’m pretty sure I studied about twice as much this semester as every other one combined, I don’t think I’ll be taking 19 hours again anytime soon while interning, volunteering, having a position in my sorority, sga, clp yea the list goes on…. Summary: I survived, managed to keep my GPA stable and am done with econ forever, Hallelujah. I could write something sappy about being halfway done with college but I’m too busy for that now.

Then, I commenced the 8-hour drive back home and was there for approximately 11 hours before leaving for Alabama to go on a family vacation. After 3 days away, I came back to BR for 4 days where I managed to catch up with my friends from home before we all go our separate ways. It included a wonderful afternoon in the country of St. Francisville with my best friend Derby. Then it was off to DC!

Sunset over mobile bay

My mom and I arrived in the morning and went off to the National Portrait Gallery, where we saw lots of paintings organized by historical time periods, and it was neat to learn about historical people that I hadn’t previously heard of. Then, we took a walk along the Potomac and saw Watergate.  The following day, we ventured out to eastern market, which is a huge farmer’s market near where I live. Then, it was time to move into my new residence. Here, my room is much smaller than my dorm at TCU, but it doesn’t really matter because I don’t have very much stuff. That night, we went to target, which was my first taste of the big city because it was 3 stories high since everything is built up higher here. Then, I returned to my new home and took a tour where I made some new friends. More to come on my first week later!

Rainy Day at the Capitol

Always Forgive, Never Regret, and Help Somebody Every Chance You Get: Reflections on 20 Years

Today I turn 20. Just like that. 2 decades. 7,300 days on this planet.

There’s nothing too special about age 20, no real new privileges, but taking some breaks from studying, I’ve done some reflecting on the past two decades.

I’ve been to 20 states and DC, lived in two (California, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Illinois, DC) some of them a lot.

4 Countries (Italy, Uganda, England, Bahamas), soon to be 6.

I’ve gone to Uganda which redefined my view on what it means to be grateful and that oftentimes when we think we can teach someone something they end up teaching us so much more.

I’ve run over 4,000 miles, raced over 150 times, which has led to many tears, many stressful moments, but in the end many great people and conversations, and learning that you really can accomplish things if you believe in yourself.

I’ve lived 70% of my life with little to no hair, which has brought me to 10 NAAF conferences, 3 trips to DC, many congressional meetings, one bring your daughter to work day, 4 internships, thousands of dollars for NAAF, 5 tortoise and hair races, many beadforlife bracelets sold, one school in Cambodia, part of a hospital in Ethiopia, many awkward conversations of people telling me their cancer life stories and me not being able to relate, and much more. This has taught me that everything really does happen for a reason and that my life would probably be really boring if I hadn’t gotten alopecia.

And there’s been a lot more. But, that’s not important.

Some things I’ve learned:

Don’t let anyone stop you from doing what you’ve always wanted to do. Hard work gets you very far in life. But at the same time, it is entirely possible to be your own worst enemy.

Everything happens for a reason-actually.

And some advice courtesy of my favorite song (My Wish)

And if you’re faced with a choice and you have to choose I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

If one door opens to another door closed I hope you keep on walking till you find the window.

I hope you never look back but you never forget, all the ones who love you and the place you live.

I hope you always forgive and never regret and help someone every chance you get.

Let your dreams stay big, worries stay small, and that you never need to carry more than you can hold.

So, as I progress into the next 20, 40, 60, and hopefully 80 years, I still have a lot to learn and a lot to experience. And today, think not of what you can do for yourself, but what you can do for the world. Experience unselfishly, using those events to impact others and always remember everyone has a story. 

Cassata Education Extends Far Beyond the Classroom

Last night was the annual fundraiser for the high school where I have interned this semester. Cassata High School is a very special place. From the outside, it is a very mundane concrete building that is unrecognizable as a school, except for the sign. When I first visited the school for my interview, I knew it was a unique place, but through research, interactions, and my time there I have realized even more what an impact it makes on students’ lives. Cassata is for students who have not thrived in traditional schools for various reasons and hardships. Students attend 3 hours per day and have individualized learning plans, which empower them to finish coursework on their own. The teachers are also unique and care about the students beyond their coursework, and their empathy extends into the students’ lives.

Their results extend far beyond increasing students’ self-worth. Last year, 94% of graduates attended college, trade school, or enlisted in the military. This also saved the economy millions of dollars, because of how much high school dropouts cost taxpayers. But, beyond the results, we have to remember these are real teenagers, not statistics. Often it’s easy to get lost in stats and getting desensitized by over glorified news reporting. We see cases of gangs, suicides, schools failing, and crime so often that it doesn’t really mean anything unless we know the person. Last night, two students shared their stories. One of them talked about being in a gang because no one in his family was very involved in his life and he had no role models. Although I didn’t hear the whole story, he became incredibly unhappy and someone led him to Cassata, where he is graduating this year and is attending college next year. Another student talked about his drug addiction and that after overcoming this, Cassata has transformed his life. He is also attending college next year. All of these stories tie back to my experience at Angola. I often think about the paths of inmates that led them to prison and what could have made a difference. Some of the students were on similar paths and luckily someone intervened.

The interactions I have witnessed and stories I have written that allowed me to interview students and faculty have shown me what a difference a family-like atmosphere and accountability makes. Someone who I had written about and has been a strong supporter of Cassata since its inception in 1975 stood up last night and offered to match any gifts up to $50,000. Within 5 minutes the approximately 150 people at the event donated over $53,000. After hearing these powerful stories and seeing the transformations, the donors were moved and realized that Cassata is a microcosm of what we need in the world. Although this is not a full solution to our education woes, we should takeaway the notion of seeing each gang member, depressed teen, and people with drug addictions as people not statistics. Most students would like to have high ambitions in life and just need that one person to believe and encourage them.

So as I get engulfed in finals, I have to remember that a mere 2 miles away is a small building in an impoverished area with a couple hundred transformed teenage lives and how grateful I am that many, (too many to count) people believed in me and helped me get where I am today. Go forth, and be that person who believes and encourages someone today. If you live in Fort Worth and would like to volunteer, Cassata always needs mentors and tutors: www.cassatahs.org