It's the final countdown . . . . .

It's our last week in Washington and I couldn't be more pleased with the experience I've had here.  I had an excellent internship that brought me into the world of government work, I made new friends that I will keep in touch with back in Columbus, and have enjoyed hanging out with Mike and Dr. Kolson every Friday morning.  My week started off with a trip to Chevy Chase for dinner at Maggiano's with the OSU alumni.  The dinner was for DC area high school students who had been accepted to Ohio State and are in the process of making their final college choice.  Elliot and I were asked to talk to the students and their parents about our experiences at Ohio State.  For me, there is nothing more enjoyable then telling people how much I love my university.  Often I had to stop myself from talking too much.  And I have to say, the DC-area OSU alumni know how to throw an event.  We were treated to a fantastic three-course meal that concluded with my greatest love, tiramisu.  I also had a chance to network with a few people living in DC that recently graduated from OSU.  Even though it took me away from writing my policy paper, I'm really glad that I went.

Wednesday night, the Glenn fellows met at the Library of Congress for Ohio's Birthday Party!  We were treated to fabulous hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, and a (sadly sub-par) birthday cake.  Most of the Ohio State Representatives were in attendence, along with Senator Brown and Senator Portman.  Thanks to previous knowledge, I knew Senator Brown took Russian in college, so I decided to surprise him by greeting him in Russian.  The highlight of my night was definitely meeting the event's best celebrity,  none other than Jim Tressell!!  Given that I come from a very small Division IV high school, I was blown away when Tressell not only knew my high school, but also the name of our football coach.  That says something about how deeply this man has invested in Ohio football.  A few of us managed to get our picture taken with him:

I'm sitting at my cubicle on my final day of work and I can't believe how long, yet how fast this experience has been.  I had a great day at work, having lunch with Kyrgyz delegates and being surprise with an adorable Kyrgyz card for International Women's Day!  It (roughly) read:
March 8th!
Let your mood lift
Beautiful flowers of spring
And in these moments of light
All dreams come true
It is almost time for my coworkers to treat me to cake, so these will be my final words on the WAIP blog.  Good luck to all of the Glenn fellows and I hope you all achieve your dreams!!




JS