Friday, December 6, 2013

Rules as a Congressional Intern

Office life as a congressional Intern can be tedious if you let it be.  In my experience offices don’t tend to expect too much out of their interns and it is your job to make them reevaluate that line of thinking.  A few things to expect:
1. Be ready to answer the phones – as an intern you are expected to act as a filter to the more senior members of your member’s staff. Answering phones is something these staffers do not like to do – thus, it is for you to do.
2. Answering phones is not fun – you will be confronted with lunatics, conspiracy theorists, and generally people with no clue how government works. They will yell at you sometimes. Expect call volume and frequency to increase when something important is happening. It is perhaps the worst aspect of this gig in my opinion.
After this, the duties of an intern are subject to your coordinator and your office.
I would highly recommend the following:
1. Work hard – this would seem to go without saying, but after a few days of doing nothing but answering horrible phone calls you might find your work ethic waning. Power through this. Staffers notice who cares and who does not. Staffers also talk to one another. You don’t want to gain the reputation as the “bad intern” in their office. It will get around.
2. Make your interests known – Your intern coordinator should know what you are interested in with regards to policy. Transportation, defense, environmental, whatever it is, try to go to briefings and hearings that pertain to it (this will also get you away from the phones for a while).
3. Work hard – in my opinion people make too much out of the whole “networking” thing on the Hill. Yes, carry business cards with you. Yes, hand them out when you can. Yes, make friends in other offices. All of these are nice touches and great ways to (maybe) be remembered. A better touch and a guaranteed way to be remembered: to be invaluable to the staffers in your office. You should strive to be the name they call when they need something.
4. The BBQ station in the Longworth cafeteria – it’s really good.

-Ryan

Monuments: More Than What You Remember From 8th Grade

I'm going to preface this with the old "my family came to visit me" excuse for posting something so obvious and touristy. 
Though I'm not sure that's entirety necessary. After living in DC for some months people tend to stop noticing things like the Washington Monument, the war memorials on the National Mall, the Capitol (Hill interns, I'm talking to you on that last one). Some people might not even venture "all the way" to the Tidal Basin to see Jefferson, or the other side of the Mall to see Lincoln and the Reflecting Pool. Anyone who grew up in Ohio might just feed you the 8th grade visit story as their reasoning for not wanting to see these sights again. To anyone using or thinking of using that excuse: you don't know what you're missing.
A lot of stuff happens in life between a WAIP experience in DC and 8th grade. Between the simple measure of time (a few years at the very least) and several life events (hopefully), you should be a person more receptive to the messages these monolithic constructions can convey. In my experience I found I didn't really pay a lot of attention during my own 8th grade trip and after a few years of taking political science and public affairs classes that these great works of art were resonating a little more than I thought.
Will this be the case for you? I certainly have no idea. Is it worth a shot? I think so. Whether its walking up the steps to see Lincolns massive frame resting so majestically, or enjoying the scenery while walking the Tidal Basin on the way to see Jefferson (check out the quotations on the panels above the statue when you get there), I can guarantee that it will at least mean more than it did when you were 13.

-Ryan

Football Saturdays in Columbus (Sort of)

Though I'm sure to draw the ire of Dr. Kolson (sorry Dr. K, I had to do it), this post will be about football (sort of). As this semester here in our nation's capitol happened to be the final semester of my senior year, it also happened to be fall semester at The Ohio State University and everyone knows what that means: Football. I unfortunately missed out on the in-person version of the majority of Urban Meyer's second undefeated regular season (one home game against Wisconsin withholding), however, this does not mean I missed out on watching the perfection surrounded by my fellow Buckeyes.
For any future Buckeye who may happen to find themselves in the predicament of waking up on Saturday morning, throwing on their scarlet and grey, and turning on the TV dripping with the anticipation of witnessing their team lay waste to some unknowing foe only to find ESPN or ABC showing the Boston College/ Maryland game - fear not. There is a place you can go where you'll swear you just stepped off High St.
Rhino Bar & Pumphouse (please don't inquire as to what exactly a "pumphouse" is because I'm pretty sure this is the only one in existence) can fill your Ohio State football void. Every Saturday Rhino is packed with fellow Ohioans, tOSU grads and fans of the Buckeyes in general (so much so that I would strongly advise getting there at least a half hour prior to the kick). It is in essence the perfect place for anyone who is feeling a little homesick for Columbus - unless of course home to you doesn't include 25 cent chicken wings (in which case I have no desire to know what your rendition of home would be).
The experience is so authentic that following games Rhino is even complete with the familiar swaying sounds of Carmen Ohio. Feel free to sway as you would back in Columbus future WAIPers.
(Disclaimer: 21 and up)

-Ryan

Monday, December 2, 2013

A Lucky Spin of the Wheel

Early in the semester, I had the opportunity to go to a Washington Redskins game. Although I'm a Browns fan, I will never pass up the opportunity to go to a NFL game, especially when it's handed to me, like it was this time. One day on my lunch break at work, I happened to have stumbled pass a food truck with 2 Redskins cheerleaders standing outside. They asked me if I wanted to win tickets to a Redskins game, and of course I answered with a resounding "yes!" I knew there was a catch, however. In order to have a chance to spin the wheel to win 2 Redskins tickets, I would have to purchase $20 worth of lottery tickets. Being easily persuaded, and having not really considered my realistic shot of winning, I bought the tickets and spun the wheel. To my amazement, the wheel landed on one of the very few spots designating 2 tickets to the Redskins game that weekend! I was so shocked that I won that my hand was trembling when I had to fill out the necessary paperwork. Since I'm not a Redskins fan, I thought I should at least take someone that was, so I ended up taking my colleague Dwight who has lived in the DC area his entire life. Although the Redskins lost and the tickets were nosebleeds (last row of the upper deck), we still had a great time and it was interesting to go to a stadium other than First Energy Stadium in Cleveland. Below is the view from our seats.

-Corey

The National Zoo

I have now visited the National Zoo twice - once with my parents and the other time with my borther and his girlfriend - and I must admit that it's one of my favorite DC attractions. Not only is the zoo metro accessible, but like many other DC tourist spots, it's also free! I must warn, however, that the zoo is very spread out and there's only one exit point, so wear comfortable shoes and prepare for a nice and long uphill walk as you leave the zoo. Nonetheless, the zoo's grounds are kept up nicely and there are a number of awesome exhibits to check out. My favorite was the Africa Trail which winds around and displays animals native to the African continent. On my second visit, the animals were particularly active. The elephant, for example, was being directed to bow down and lift its back leg up - a sight that drew great attention and awe from the crowd. The apes, as always, were also fun to watch -one of the apes was using a tree branch to dig food out of a PVC pipe. The picture below is from the ape exhibit.
-Corey