100 Days Together

Dear Mr. President,

So here we are, day 100.

As my family members, old teachers, and OSU classmates have commented on my Facebook pictures over the last four months, “What a time to be in D.C.”

While I can’t say that you and I share too many things in common, we did share an experience: our first 100 days as D.C. outsiders. Being the college student who grew up in a rural community and never lived outside of Ohio, and the business mogul who occasionally fired people on reality TV, the world of policy and politics that life inside the Beltway encompasses doesn’t exactly fit us.  

Nonetheless, here we are.

My first 100 days in D.C. haven’t always been easy. I’ve jumped back on the red line going exactly where I came from instead of transferring to the silver. I let my alarm go off a few too many times and became that girl running through morning traffic in my heels to get to work on time. I printed 120 copies instead of 12. I shared a one-room apartment with three roommates where hot water was never promised and getting ready at the same time was an F5 tornado. I also caught the flu for a week because Karma found out I called the flu shot overrated.  

I think we both came into our new city and new positions with high expectations. We assumed people would hold the door open and the pieces would fall in place, but as it turns out, our ideas aren’t as easy in practice. Promises you make on a campaign trail don’t always translate into real change and idealist views of government from the classroom are spoiled by partisanship, ignorance, and money. I came to D.C to gain experience and discover what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life, and because of the experience, the latter is a work in progress. We’ve had some rude awakenings in this city, but that’s part of being new. You have to struggle to learn, and you have to learn to prevail.

I had my rough moments as the new intern on the block, but with each set back I recovered, adapted, and didn’t make the same mistake the next time. I began to learn the city and its people until D.C. felt like the small town that it really is. In the meantime, I almost won a Smithsonian scavenger hunt, I picnicked on the Mall, I participated in protests on the steps of the Capitol and saw filibusters inside of it, I spoke to politicians and military leaders, I was booed at a Caps game for repping the Jackets, I heard about the careers of judges, journalists, and a man named Joe who I networked with on the metro, I kayaked down the Potomac, I brunched, then brunched, and then brunched again, I laid down at Renwick to look at a masterpiece, I saw the cherry blossoms emerge, I went on runs to the Lincoln Memorial, I watched sunsets at the Washington Monument, I marched for women, I drank caffeine, a lot of caffeine, actually, and I even visited your house, Mr. President.  When in D.C., am I right?

This journey happened all while living a block away from the place of your inauguration, when you began your 100 days.  Thus far, your presidency has showed me the potential of civic engagement, the importance of credible institutions, the complexity of bipartisanship, and the strength of taking your frustration of current affairs and turning it into motivation. The world doesn’t stop moving and neither can we.

So day 100. I have two weeks left in this city where I found a home. I plan to make the most of this time as the once outsider turn pro D.C. intern, alongside life-long, one bedroom apartment friends, surrounded by sites that continuously take my breath away. This experience has exposed me to the possibilities that lie in front of me, and Mr. President, you have been part of that. While my time is coming to end for now, the experience we shared has been incredible, terrifying, relentless, and all of the above, but I’ll be back…

as a real Washingtonian.

See you soon,

Sara Trenor