Always changing and always moving...

 Hey everyone!

Believe it or not, in two days will be the one-month mark of living in DC. I personally cannot believe it. Time and time again, I am emailing people from St. Mikes updating them on my progress and as the one-month mark approaches, I would like to publicly thank them in my blog. First and foremost, I would like to thank Peggy Imai from the Study Abroad office. This amazing person dealt with me as a freshman who wanted to study abroad in his sophomore year. She assisted me in almost weekly meetings and emails with my proposal to come to DC and was key in getting me here this semester. I cannot thank her enough, and am looking forward to her visit in March, when she comes for an administrative meeting with the Washington Semester Program. Secondly, I would like to thank Ms. Donna Atwater of the Career Development office at Saint Michael's College. Donna and I met last year when I began working on a resume and have developed a great relationship over the past year. Donna has been so supportive and helpful in landing me the internship I have now. I can never thank her enough! Finally, I would like to thank my family and the friends and staff at SMC who are constantly giving me support during my time here. 

Last week, our American Politics class had some awesome guests come to visit and speak. Our first speaker was a political consultant whose wit and knowledge made the lecture both humorous and very interesting. Mr. Fenn gave us the 8 C's of successfully running for office: clear, concise, connect, colorful, convincing, consistent, contrast, continual, and captivating. He also discussed the importance of finding a clear message and sticking to it if you wanted to win any office. Tuesday's first speaker brought us to the Capitol Hill area to speak with a political pollster. His insight gave us tips on the different kind of polls, how polls are conducted, and the importance of polls. This speaker flowed perfectly into the next speaker who was a media consultant and showed us how to read polls and target certain audiences. Did you know some polls could tell you where member of certain political parties eat, what they eat, what they drink, and what they watch on TV? Unfortunately, our last speaker of the week, scheduled for Thursday was cancelled due to a SNOW DAY!!! Woohoo! Instead, I spent by day working on a paper for my class which circled around picking a candidate and writing memos to them discussing campaign strategies for 2012. I personally picked the future Senator of Massachusetts, Joseph P. Kennedy II. 

This week I spent a lot more time admiring the places around me and spent a little less time on exploring downtown. My house mates and I have recently found a nice little coffee shop blocks from our house. Rather than just any Starbucks, Ebenezer’s is actually run by a church and they send the proceeds to community outreach programs, so I get to have my Caramel Macchiato and help change the world :)! This week I got my official Library of Congress library card and am now allowed entry to any of the reading rooms in the three historic reading rooms. On my snow day, I took advantage of the new card and spend most of my afternoon working and researching in the largest library in the world!! Last night brought myself and two of my closest friends, Tata and Sumiye, on a five mile walk from our apartment to the White House, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. It would have been a perfect walk if it weren’t freezing!! I personally cannot wait until it is nice and I can walk everywhere in the beautiful weather.

Personally, this week has been crazy, truthfully the definition of a roller coaster week! After a major disagreement in my house, the family became quite divided. Most of my time this week was spent on campus with those who live there (Shoutout to my St. Mary's girls, my NYC girl Regina, and of course my girl from Amish country Lancaster, PA Liz). In my attempts to find the positives in everything, I realize the close bonds I have made with these people. I now realize how hard it will be to leave in a few months. Leave behind the people I have come to love and only be with them every day for a few months. It has been a challenging week due to the ever-crazy schedule and fast-paced life of DC. I am starting to wonder about my adjustment back to SMC when I do not have to run across town for meetings or take the Metro to school every day. Whether it was practically shaking when opening the door to the office of Vice President Joe Biden, or being speechless when Senator Joe Lieberman introduced himself to me, this week has also caused me to see the true political geek that lies inside. I feel like I am always changing here. Every day I am faced with new challenges and new experiences. It is still so overwhelming when I think about living in DC, but that is life here -- always changing and always moving. 

Stay honest and keep those around you honest
- Josh