Final Post

This week, this week... Is the last week I will be here in Washington D.C. The holiday season is a relishable time to be wrapping up. I get to attend five, yes FIVE, cinco, cinq, cinque, fünf Christmas parties. Please try to control your jealousy. First off was my boss's cookie party, then a Coca-Cola party, then the big mCapitol party, tonight is the Recording Industry Association of America's party and tomorrow I will round out with the mCapitol office party. Party, party time. Let me just tell you why these parties are sweet, in case you are unblissfully unaware. They are sweet because they provide endless amounts of cute bite-size morsels, all at no charge to Gina Marie Christensen Messamer. I have been eating a lot of mashed potatoes at my apartment lately, and whoooeee does some variety taste splendid.

For the mCapitol party, I worked the coat check. I enjoy that because I also write out name tags, so I get to check out who who shows up. A more enterprising person would probably exchange scads of business cards at these events, but that's not my bag. I'm just there to hang out. Networking stresses me. As the party died down, the other coach check intern exile and I snuck inside to hang out with the real employees. It's fun to talk to the people in my office now that I know everyone better.

I am in a super mood at this instant. Last night I turned in my final paper and gave my final presentation for my Political Psychology class. The Peaceful Solutions class has also drawn to a close. We took a class photo and wise Colman McCarthy said in closing that when he gets discouraged about things sucking in the world, he just looks at the bulletin board where all this class photos are displayed and it encourages him instantly.

My roommate Michelle and me with Colman McCarthy, living legend

Anyway, since everything is finishing up, I'm almost carefree right now. Except for cleaning out my apartment. Barf.

I feel like I should have some deep, introspective comments to share now, looking back on my semester and the copious amounts of knowledge that have wandered into my brain during my stay here. Well ladies and gentlemen, it was very fun. I definitely overuse the word fun, but you know what, biiiiite me!! It was fun! It is also an extremely comprehensive semester. I got two classes that I loved that I learned a ton from and actually enjoyed attending. I became more socially aware. I got to hear a great variety of "How I Made It" stories from successful Washingtonians through The Washington Center programming events. I made new friends, I socialized with my new friends. I gained an understanding of how lobbying works and how a lobbying office works. I learned that I don't want to be a lobbyist. I learned that I love big cities for all the interesting activities they offer at a very low cost.

I would definitely recommend it. For me, it was as close as I will come to a semester "abroad." When you take yourself out of your normal environment, you have to learn and adjust. Experiential learning is the bomb. Not as painful as sitting in lectures all week and taking multiple choice tests.

PEACE OUT!!

gina marie

Week 14

Washington D.C. is still good. It's a pretty consistently fun place to be. Friday was World AIDS Awareness Day and a few of us from the Peaceful Solutions class met at Dupont Circle to participate in a candlelight vigil.

It was interesting because there is such a large population of people who are infected in D.C., much more so than the rest of the country. I believe the statistic is 1 in 20. It's strange to think there are so many people who have the disease. No one I know has HIV...at least that I'm aware of...so I don't realize how widespread the epidemic is, even here in the U.S.

Saturday my boss invited me to a cookie exchange party at her home. It was a good opportunity to solidify a relationship with her before I leave, and it was also nice to get to see her home and meet her family and friends. I brought my roommate along so I wouldn't be overwhelmed by the pressure to mingle. For about two hours, Michelle (the roommate) and I sat by my boss's fireplace and ate crab cakes other delectable finger foods. MAN we ate A LOT. We would eat as much as we could, then sit and let it settle and then try to squeeze some more in our bellies. After a while we got into some natural mingling, which was entertaining. Some people really like to talk. One of my boss's friends asked us if we were going to lots of holiday parties.... We hadn't even thought about the possibility that we could go to more parties. She told us how there are tons of parties going on, and invited us to her company's party next week. We're pretty pumped about that.

Monday my boss John took me out to eat. I think just because he's nice. But it might have been my "goodbye" lunch. We went to a restaurant that we had been to before. The previous time John had tried to hook me up with one of the waiters. He gave the waiter my business card and told him to call me. When the kid finally called a month later.... mmmm...I didn't call him back. So when we went back to the restaurant, of course John calls the guy over to our table and says, "So she said you called, but she didn't call you back!" Just called the guy out. It was pretty awkward, but really amusing. I just sat there and laughed. The waiter didn't look like he thought it was quite so fun. John teased me for the rest of the meal. He says he must be from the "old school," where consideration is in style. He is silly.

And finally, the big news of the week.... IT SNOWED! I love it! It is getting pretty brisk. But I need to get used to it because in TWO WEEKS I will be getting right back into it in Iowa. My mom booked a ticket to come out here to help me "move out." She basically just wants an excuse to come back to D.C. But heck, I guess more power to her.

Week 13

Thanksgiving in D.C. was just delightful. Of course, who would expect anything less? My family came out to bring me some holiday cheer. When I admitted to my boss that I had neglected to make reservations for Thanksgiving dinner (and had absolutely no plans to cook) he insisted that I allow him to procure us some reservations at the swanky Willard Hotel. Hey, that sounded good to me... Until I realized that a delectable Thanksgiving meal at the Willard will cost you a tidy $95 per plate. But there are some favors that just don't seem right to decline so I kept quiet as John made arrangements. Luckily The Willard Room was booked to capacity and John got us into a less expensive restaurant. For a few minutes there, I was dreading the phone call to my mother to inform her that she should expect to drop $400 on supper. Wooooo!

My family and me enjoying our Thanksgiving feast.

I was pleasantly surprised when my mom decided that the optimal use of our Friday would be shopping. She packed my brother and dad off to the Holocaust Museum and we tore up Filene's Basement. Having never previously been exposed to Filene's Basement, (which is a roided up version of T.J. Maxx or Marshall's) I just cannot get enough of it. I will sincerely miss it when I am gone. All those bargains I will be missing out on... So sad.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to touring... We perused the National Portrait Museum and the Spy Museum on Saturday and made the rounds to all the memorials on Sunday. I like the Portrait Museum a lot, but by the time I was done in the Spy Museum, I was sick of reading small placards with intriguing facts written upon them. It was nice to have visitors in though, because I needed to do some more touring before the semester ends in TWO WEEKS!

Marcus Messamer reveling the majesty of Toni Morrison's portrait.

My brother just doesn't have the stamina for D.C. Not a trooper.

My dear friend Addeliar D. Guy was in town visiting family, and you know I just like to include pictures of everyone I hang out with.


Programming was interesting this week... A panel that talked about campaigning. The new guy who works for the TWC Congressional Leadership program spoke about his experience with campaigns. He has been working in them since he was in Junior High. How depressing. I knew I needed to start earlier!! I totally blame my lack of experience on my parents. I am going to make my kids start networking as soon as they are potty trained.

The roomies and I at programming. Cool huh??

I also went to an TWC event today regarding government jobs. How to get them, how they pay, when to apply, how long it takes to get security clearances, the pros and cons.... Everything one might want to know. Would you like to know the answers to those questions? Well that's just too bad. You should have gone to the information session. I'll give you just one tidbit.... For instance, did you know that all government agencies are required to post available jobs online? Yes, that is a fact! The website is usajobs.gov. I haven't checked it out yet, but I think they post internships on there also. Interesting stuff. Plus the event included a free lunch. Which cannot be beat.

So, like I said... Only TWO WEEKS until we are done and out of here. Crrrrazzzzy. I have a some papers to finish up before I leave, and I want to go to all the neat holiday events going on, and I want to tour a few more places too, and I want to hang out with the people I have met here, and I need to buy Christmas presents, and I want to take a nap. My time management skills will be severely tested in the coming weeks. Oh boy, but I am up to the challege!! Yahoo.

Week 12

Last week at work I helped set up meetings for a client, Jeff Cole from USC, who represents the Center for the Digital Future. The Center for the Digital Future conducts longitudinal research on American's use of the internet. This type of longitudinal research is extremely valuable in mapping trends and predicting the role that the internet will play in future generations.

Mr. Cole met with various members of the Internet Caucus to brief them on the research the Center has been doing. I was able to accompany my boss and the client on a meeting Friday. I enjoyed the meeting very much because it was an informational briefing, and the client did not need anything. It was nice to go into a office and not have an agenda that you are trying to convince the office to support. The meeting was a very interesting exchange of ideas. I sat in on a meeting with representatives from the House Judiciary Committee. Whereas the other meetings I have attended have been brief and to the point, this meeting lasted longer than an hour. The people from the House Judiciary Committee were knowledgeable on the technology and communications issues Mr. Cole was addressing and they had lots of questions for him. The meeting was more than just a pitch, it was an exchange of ideas between educated parties.

I really enjoyed listening to the discussion of upcoming issues, ranging from Americans' internet usage to the future of television advertising. The issues that Mr. Cole deals with are extremely relevant to the future of marketing, so that interested me from a business perspective. The work Mr. Cole is doing is exceptionally interesting because it allows him to have a very broad and encompassing perspective on an emerging market. He is very much a scholar, but the information he is collecting and the subjects he studies have very lucrative practical applications. Mr. Cole consults with the government at no charge, but many other industries pay dearly for his reports. Mr. Cole travels constantly, sharing information with a wide variety of interest groups. I admired Mr. Cole's extensive knowledge on communications and technology subjects, and also admired how he is able to apply his scholarly research to very practical problems. Sitting in on the meeting made me think about the role of technology in our everyday lives and how amazing the development of technology is. There are many specific technological developments that could be studied at length, but I appreciated the big picture that Mr. Cole presented through his research. It was nice to take a step back and notice how society has changed due to its use of technology.

I'm very thankful that I got to sit in on the meeting because it gave me another perspective on what lobbying can be. Lobbying doesn't always have to be begging for money in earmarks, it can also be advocating important interests and sharing relevant information with governmental officials who could use it to improve their work. It was refreshing.

In other news...

My roommate, Miss Elizabeth Hague, celebrated a birthday. We went to The Melting Pot and had fantastic fondue festivities.

My other roommate, Miss Michelle Anderson, and I attended a get together with other members of her Peaceful Solutions class. They are trying to play an event so they can be actively peaceful, with an added benefit of possibly waiving their final exam for the class. Everyone decided to advocate for the legislation establishing a U.S. Department of Peace.

This picture is unrelated, besides the fact that it took place at the Peace class meeting, after discussion was dying down. Michelle and another TCUer, Ashley Hale, decided to do some cool contortionist moves.

Michelle is a certified pilates instructor and Ashley can walk on her hands...Ya, those are their backgrounds. And here we have movedon to full blown pilates.

As I was driving back from themeeting on the Hill with my boss, we noticed a protest going on. So being the protest-lover that I am, I walked down on my lunch break to check it out. It was a Jena 6 protest that started in front of the Justice Department and went to the Capitol. The marchers were chanting, "No justice.... No peace." I like seeing all this civic engagement. So here are some pictures from the march...

Week 11

Every week I do some reconnaissance work and take a peep at what the other bloggers are writing for The Washington Center. Just to make sure that I'm not writing anything too mind-blowing, checking to see if I need to dumb down my brilliance in order to conform to an inferior standard. I don't want the other bloggers to resent me, ya know. Unfortunately, reading Miss Christy Fink's blog this week compelled me to develop a strong case of jealousy. She's doing neat stuff! I need to quit sitting around!! In a state of agitation, I rushed to the Monday Express in search of an event with which to increase the interesting-ness of my life.

In the Top Stops section, I struck upon "Adopt-a-Candidate," a set of original plays based on various candidates in the 2008 Presidential race. It seemed the perfect alternative to a night of television. And indeed, I was not disappointed. I watched six entertaining and funny short plays and stuck around afterwards for the audience discussion. I really enjoyed it because, while you hear a lot about the campaigns in the news, it's easy to only gain a superficial understanding. There were some smart people in the audience, so it was great to hear their educated opinions and insights. I'll have to bootleg some of their good thoughts and pretend like I'm on the ball too.

The event at Mr. Milne's house that I mentioned last week was indeed delightful. I felt a little awkward standing around at first, not knowing anyone, but I felt more comfortable as the night went progressed. I had the feeling that nobody was especially keen on chatting it up with the intern... I'm not exactly a high-profile power player. But it was fun to watch everyone else interact, and I eventually did end up conversing with a few people. Plus the food was delish. Although I a bit disappointed when I discovered that Mr. Milne does not in fact have a stuffed bear on display in his home, or a jacuzzi. I think you could get a lot of quality lobbying done in a jacuzzi.

Another interesting detail about this week.... Today I attended an information session that was set up by TWC regarding the The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation associate program. They have internships too (THAT ARE PAID) if anyone applying to TWC is looking for a good opportunity. The program is focused on the non-profit sector and seems like a super way to develop a comprehensive understanding and skill set. D.C. is a marvelous place to find opportunities for real-life jobs. I need to check out more stuff like that while I'm here so perhaps I can get some post-graduation plans lined up.

PICTURES! and other random news....
I went and saw Jay-Z perform last weekend. If you're into that kind of stuff, it was neat. I still haven't written my research paper, I'm irresponsible. Those are the updates of my life.

My roommate Michelle.... she's really stressed.... not. She is just a dork.

All of my precious roommates. We like each other. Thank goodness.

The picturesque walk from my apartment to the metro. Ahhhh fall.

Week 10

I feel like I am starting to under appreciate D.C. It's midway through the semester, I have a research paper to write, it's getting cold, and I am becoming increasingly disinclined to go walk around town and check out new stuff. I'm getting in the habit of going to work, returning to my apartment and sitting around watching TV... and when the weekend rolls around, I take full advantage of it by remaining holed up in my apartment. Last night I stayed in and watched Die Hard: With a Vengeance. It was pretty sweet.

My friend Lewis Banda came to D.C. last weekend to renew his passport and he stayed with me. I felt like a pretty lame host when we spent both Thursday and Friday on the couch watching YouTube videos. It was a truly cultural experience.

My sweet apartment

Lewis and me on G street during my lunch break

To my credit, I did manage to wander out Saturday night for a Thermals concert at the Black Cat. They weren't anything to write home about, in my humble opinion.

My friend from TCU, Seth, and me at the Thermals concert. You can't really tell there's a concert going on in the background but WHATEVER, you get the drift!

I'm guessing that I will becoming more energized in another week once I realize that it's almost time for me to go back to Iowa. Then I'll probably be in a frenzy to go pack in all the sight-seeing I neglected to do earlier. It will be like drinking from a fire hose.

For work last week, the big project was preparing for an event Mr. Milne is hosting at his home tonight, which I get to attend, being the lucky girl that I am. I'm guessing that his house is going to be pretty impressive, because he's an impressive kind of guy. I'm expecting to see crystal chandeliers and a lion skin floor rug with the head still attached. Perhaps for the next blog I will have some tantalizing pictures of some Senators and me.

I went to a couple more client meetings this week and that was nice. The talk about different bills and what's moving in the House versus the Senate and what legislation is getting tagged on what and what might never make it out of committee and all that jazz gets confusing. There is a lot to keep straight. And it all sounds like a foreign language to me. A foreign language that I do not like. I prefer French.

Week 9

This week this week... I have less material to work with because I abandoned the District of Columbia in order to return to my homeland. But luckily, the week prior to my Thursday departure was at least stimulating enough to yield a 4 paragraph blog.

Here I am with my brother, Marcus Alan Messamer, and my old friend Mr. Alex Nielsen back in good ol' Oskaloosa, Iowa. I could have taken out the red in my brother's eyes, but I thought it added a little extra evil Halloween glow.


At work this week my principal tasked me with looking up some of her old contacts from Chicago. Unfortunately, she had very few details on the people I was attempting to find. Although misspelled names and incorrect employment background complicate the search, it makes the research a little more fun and detective-like. I had to call a few places to track down some names and that made it more exciting when I actually found them. What a sleuth I am.

The other challenge this week was attempting to schedule meetings with people on the hill, which requires a little more effort than one might expect.

The process goes something like...

Call the congressional office to figure out who deals with the issue you're trying to address...
Write that person an email...
Call the office back when that person doesn't respond to their email...
Leave a message when that person doesn't answer his/her phone...
Try calling back again later...
Feel like a loser for hassling that person so much...
Send a follow-up email....
And so on and so forth.

But then again, that extra effort makes it seem especially rewarding when somebody agrees to schedule an appointment.

I also got to sit in on my first client meeting this week. And I loved it. I'm getting a double degree in political science and marketing, and the client meeting made me realize how much of a marketing feel that lobbying has. Product, price, promotion, place... The 4 P's are all there. I guess lobbying would be seen more specifically as a promotion tactic. It seems that the target market in lobbying would naturally be the government, but that over-simplifies things. Lobbying reaches markets outside government, plus there are so many distinct markets within government. It's nice when you can make connections between things you learn in school with whatever is going on in your life. Makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth.