DC and Back Again, an Interns tale.
By Brandon Hofacker
I had prepared myself for a long, long summer. Sure, I
expected there to be plenty of fun and DC is somewhere had enjoyed being before,
but nonetheless I expected a long summer. This would be the first summer I’d
miss a family vacation. I would have next to no break between finishing up
campus commitments and moving to the "Hill". The work load seemed demanding. I’d be
surrounded by (almost) completely new people. I’d have to figure out how to
cook basic food too. All of those
concerns, maybe you could even call them fears, were completely accurate.
And yet that doesn't explain just how not long the summer was.
Its July 28th and I can’t find the words to tell
you just how weird that feels, especially because yesterday feels like May,
where I was trying to figure out how best to maximize every weekend I would have here.
Since then I’ve met some absolutely incredible alums, stood next to Senators,
Representatives, and Secretaries, actually developed professionally, and met
people who I hope will be friends for a lifetime. All of this is crazy and
unexpected, but do you want to know the craziest and most unexpected thing of
all?
How much I learned about myself.
Before WAIP I couldn’t tell you what I wanted to 6 months
from now let alone 6 years, and if we're being honest I still don’t have good
answers to those questions. But I can tell you that I want to be able to impact
others, and I want to be interacting with people as often as I can be. Stan
Skocki, Bill Couch, Bill Houston, Tracy, Jess, Kennedy, Jim, Peter, and of
course Katy and Julie are just some of people who I know I’ll never be able to
forget because they’ve given me some incredible advice. All of them helped me realize,
sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, where I need to improve and how I
need to continue to consider what I want out of my career.
In only a few short weeks I’ll be back in Columbus, and in a
few short months I’ll graduate Ohio State. After that who knows where I’ll end
up, maybe Columbus, maybe Cleveland, or maybe even DC. All I know is I’ll make
sure I’m much more prepared for whatever comes next, and for that I have to
thank….
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| Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the Excellence in Public Service Event |
….WAIP for it….
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| A Beautiful view of the Capitol from my walk home |
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| Congressman Alan Lowenthal, my boss Stan Skocki, and me in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol |
the Washington Academic Internship Program.
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