DC, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I won't make my blog post as sappy as some of the other WAIP Fellows would prefer to, but I can say I am going to miss everyone involved in making this trip to our nation's capital one of the best experiences of my time at Ohio State. I'll be back in a few months, DC. Just look at the next few months as "taking a break."
That should about cover it. Now, something useful for the upcoming class of WAIP Fellows:
At the beginning of the program, Dr. Kolson is going to talk about a far-off project, a simple sounding, fairly fascinating and open ended 15 to 20 page report, due in a not-so-distant ten weeks from the day.
Want to write an amazing policy paper? Learn from the mistakes (and successes) of Fellows' past.
*Note: We have not yet received final grades on our paper. Take caution when utilizing any of my advice.
I will start with the positive.
A good tip: look for any opportunity to write at your respective internships. I spent just about every waking moment at my own writing research memos or blog posts, which I was very honored to get to do as a lowly intern.
Take this post, for example. It combines narrative, research, and data tables; I would suggest learning to tolerate these unwelcome strangers into your writing style -- all will be necessary to incorporate into a stellar policy paper.
Now, a few mistakes (from my perspective).
First: the most important part of the entire policy paper is the preliminary outline. Without it's guidance, your policy paper will most likely turn into 20 pages of incoherent quotes from CRS reports. I had to rewrite my own outline to help guide me through the treachery that is late night paper writing. Which leads to my second point.
Never, never, never consider saving your policy paper for the last week before it is due.
Sure, at Ohio State it is easy to lock yourself in Thompson or SEL for coffee-driven all nighters, avoiding whatever is going on east of High and producing a somewhat legible "research" paper. The problem: there is always something going on in DC that you would rather be doing (especially during your last week) other than typing a paper at a desk in the Congressional.
To top it off, Dr. Kolson will require you to present your paper in front of an extremely large and judgmental audience, hurling eye rolls and exasperated gasps at your every misspoken word, hesitant statement, or slight stutter. To end the torture, Dr. Kolson will most likely subject you to one of the most grueling and self depreciating question and answer sessions regarding your topic, of a severity that has not been seen since the McCarthyism trials (barring that you haven't already ran out of the Hall of States in tears).
Okay, I completely made that last part up. Really.
But enjoy your time here, and make the most of the trip.
To conclude, I will leave you with one of my favorite parting lines ever produced in film:
This strange mixing of minds may be the greatest single service ever performed for humanity! Let's go, but, inconspicuously, through the window. We'll use our Batropes. Our job is finished.
ZR
Very entertaining!
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