Two summers ago I interned at the U.S. Department of Education. Early summer 2014, I am a DC intern again, this time at the Center for American Progress.
13 May - Move in to American University in a beautiful dorm, right across the street from a shuttle that takes me to a train that takes me to another train that takes me to work.
14 May - I have now successfully started working as an Intern with Post-Secondary Education Policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC! It looks like there’s a huge intern program here, with over 90 summer interns, and I am one of the first to start the summer program, so I’m working next to interns that started in March and are continuing until June. My new intern friends told me that Google would be my new best friend, but so far copy/paste is. They also wanted to mess with me by telling me that one of my bosses (who is out of town this week) has huge mood swings and a short temper, but I actually have worked with him before at the U.S. Department of Education and know he’s one of the nicest guys out there. Plan failed!
DC tip: DC has a great metro system, but it can take some time to really figure out where you're going. Most websites with directions will include the closest metro stop. If you're using the metro more than two or three times, I would suggest getting a SmartTrip card, available at CVS. The card is $2, and it comes loaded with some fare money. Without the card, you'll have to pay an extra $1 every time you use a paper pass.
One of the biggest things that’s struck me is how relaxed and flexible everyone seems to be. The other interns on my floor and I spent a lot of the day working and talking to each other. The building is big (11 floors, I’m at the top), and there are a lot of windows. It feels very open and welcoming. A lot of people share offices or have desks in open spaces with small dividers. There are so many different teams (economics, LGBT, education policy, technology, and many others), and everyone – even the interns – seem to be part of producing something, trying to make a difference. In higher ed policy (my team) we are working primarily with making college affordable, which is pretty much what I did at the DOE with Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
15 May - For-Profit Accountability press conference inside…the Capitol! It was called “Young Invincibles, Joined by Senators, to Call for Stronger Protections for Students at For-Profit Colleges." Clip one, clip two. Unfortunately I had to throw out the snacks in my purse before going in, but our room in the Capitol was beautiful, with a huge chandelier and a royal blue carpet. Four senators and two students of for-profit universities talked about gainful employment regulations on giving financial aid to for-profit colleges because although 1/10 students attend for-profit schools, 46% of all federal student loan defaults are from for-profit school students. After the event, my boss and I took a Capitol train from the Capitol to the Senate office buildings. Something that struck me in the offices was that there was an elevator for senators only.
-Some of the other interns and I had lunch at a park with a bunch of food trucks, my first time eating at a food truck:
CAP M&Ms from an event the night before:
19 May – I helped with and attended an event called “All Hands on Deck: How Expanded Learning Time Schools and Community Partnerships Work Together to Improve Outcomes for Students.” It looks like the idea is to
include enrichment activities like arts and tutoring to the extended day (often starting early and ending around 5pm) to
help close the achievement gap. Much of the extra time is provided through an
outside partner instead of through the teachers themselves. Two of the panelists
are from companies that are particularly interesting to me: Christopher Caruso from
ExpandED and Megan Bird from Citizen Schools.
-Who knew the most terrifying thing about my job so far (or
any job I’ve ever had) would be making tweets about a report?
Luckily it turned out that creating 10 tweets about the 40 page report was kind of fun. I could see it being a school assignment to teach students to synthesize information and recognize what is and isn't important.
20 May - Spotted in the kitchen: Walking up 11 flights of stairs burns 50 calories. Walking down burns 17 calories:
-I spent my lunch break exploring the area and found a lovely fountain and the fanciest Forever 21 I've ever seen:
-At night, my new roommate Caly and I went to the Mall of America to check out some of the monuments and memorials.
Art at the Federal Triangle metro stop and Washington Monument:
WWII Memorial:
Lincoln Memorial:
21 May - Our higher ed policy event! We released a report called "Perils in the Provision of Trust Goods: Consumer Protection and the Public Interest in Higher Education" by Robert Shireman. It was packed, and the panelists had a really good discussion. I contributed by redoing the endnotes on the report and by adding a few of the questions from the moderator to the panel.
-Another lunch break exploring.
I've never seen a church painting with a Dalmatian on it, but here it is! At the Luther Place Memorial Church:
-My parents came into town, and we went to dinner at this amazing German restaurant called Café Mozart right next door to where I work. The food was incredible, and there was even a woman playing the accordion.
-An interesting visual about the benefits of higher education:
Full Committee Hearing - Examining Access and Supports for Servicemembers and Veterans in Higher Education:
Full Committee Hearing - Examining Access and Supports for Servicemembers and Veterans in Higher Education:
23 May - drove to Raleigh, NC, to visit a my friend Nicole for Memorial Day weekend.
25 May - Nicole and I went to the Wrightsville beach, which was packed with people.
28 May - We got in our first big batch of summer interns today. Three other people started two weeks ago with me, and there were already 5-10 spring interns finishing up when I got here, so doing orientation with the group of 35 new interns was kind of overwhelming! I was moved from the 11th floor to the Enough! kitchen on the 2nd floor that will have 11 other interns.
29 May - I've been working with (summarizing, pulling out key recommendations) a bunch of Senate hearings about the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
31 May - My parents came to town for the weekend, so we took a day trip to Annapolis.
1 June - Touring around DC with my parents.
Segway tour with Capital Segway!
White House and Washington Monument:
Fellow 2nd floor Enough! kitchen intern Tomas killing it
4 June - Economic Policy Institute's Event "Raising America's Payday" where Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez spoke. He was a fantastic speaker, and it was great to hear some of what he's been working on.
A few notable moments for me:
1.) Moderator Harold Meyerson (from The American Prospect) talked about the wage gap among genders. He corrected himself to say between genders, then backtracked to say that now maybe the right way is to say among. Moving in the right direction right here in DC!
2.) "We're in a Modern Family universe, but we've got public policy that better reflects Leave It to Beaver." -Secretary Perez
3.) "A big part of what we do at the Department of Labor is making sure people have the skills they need to compete." -Secretary Perez
4.) Mikey Franklin, Co-Founder of the Fair Pay Campaign, advocates to end unpaid internships. There are 750,000 to 1.2 million unpaid interns in the U.S. per year, and these internships can only go to students of economic privilege, barring out those who can't afford to work for free.
- Happy Hour at Hamilton's Bar and Grill, which was a lot of fun, to say goodbye to spring interns Julia, KR, and Gina.
-Spotted in the metro, two ads featuring both gay and interracial couples:
-Spotted in the metro, two ads featuring both gay and interracial couples:
6 June - Going away party for Julia and KR, two spring K-12 education policy interns. We'll miss you!
7 June - An extremely full day of touristing.
The iPhone is starting its transition into museums
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden:
DC tip: The monuments and memorials on the Mall may be "just over there, I can see it!" but "just over there" is still a long way away. Be prepared to walk.
8 June - Pride Festival
DC Pride tip: Things got a little raunchy, so I wouldn't necessarily advise bringing kids, though there were a few running around having fun. There are a lot of shirtless men and crazy costumes, and on stage I even saw a man lip syncing in a banana suit running around giving lap dances to anyone filming him!
9 June - White House!
A bunch of us from CAP got to go to the East Room in the White House to listen to President Obama speak about college affordability. There were probably 75 of us in the room. It was an amazing experience!
A few notable moments to me:
1.) A college grad makes on average $28,000/yr more than someone with only a high school diploma.
2.) "I'm only here because this country gave me a chance through higher education." - Obama
3.) The outrage is that students are just doing what they were told to do, then they get punished with student debt. - Obama
1.) "Some sort of higher education is necessary to compete in a global knowledge-based economy." - Eric Waldo
2.) Graduates in 2020 for the President's 2020 college completion goal are now finishing up their sophomore year of high school, like the Obama's oldest daughter.
Speakers included Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Al Franken (D-MN).
You can see me on the far left, in the back row:
More pictures can be found here.
After we finished several of us stayed to help deliver materials about the proposal to various senators. I got to go to offices for senators from Nebraska, Georgia, Vermont, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, New York, Idaho, and Indiana.
Senate voted on the refi proposal the next day, and it did not pass, 56-38. It needed 60 votes, basically 4 more. Though it really only needs 3 more votes because majority leader Harry Reid (D) voted against the proposal only so he could bring it up for a vote again in the future.
11 June - Student Town Hall on College Costs and Access, University of California, Washington Center, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Under Secretary Ted Mitchell
I'm on the left in the second row, right behind the guy whose head is next to "gov" on the sign:
2.) On average it now takes only 20 minutes to fill out the FAFSA.
3.) "...building excellence around inclusion instead of exclusion." - Arne Duncan
13 June - Reimagining the Federal-State Relationship in Education event
- Kennedy Center: Eric Whitacre
The Kennedy Center puts on free performances every night at 6pm on Millennium Stage. I went to one that was being conducted by Eric Whitacre, a "superstar" conductor and composer. In high school, my choir sang his "Lux Aurumque," and it was beautiful and so much fun to sing. As usual, Eric Whitacre was charming and funny and showed further how talented he and his colleagues are. Some of his best-known projects are his virtual choirs, and my favorite is, of course, the virtual choir for "Lux Aurumque." Watching the concert was an amazing experience, and I'm excited for his newly promised zombie vocal warm-ups he has now promised to premiere in a year :P
17 June - Brownbag with CAP's Senior Fellow Sam Fulwood.
18 June - American Enterprise Institute (AEI) event: Unions in public education: A Conversation with AFT President Randi Weingarten. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teachers' union in the US with over 1 million members. Although there were many things Weingarten said I didn't agree with, one potentially valuable product she mentioned was Share My Lesson, a large set of free lesson plans and teacher resources.
-In the afternoon, I helped advertise for Make Progress, an event hosted by Generation Progress, the youth advocacy arm of CAP. Make Progress is a huge progressive national summit on July 16th...one week after I leave DC! I'm so sad I'm missing it!
Finally got to see a little of American University in the process of advertising, and I found some of their adorable statues!
22 June - Quick trip to the National Building Museum:
24 June - I co-authored an issues brief! "Important Insights on College Choice and the Burden of Student-Loan Debt." Be sure to take a look, and when you do, open up the PDF instead of just scrolling through the webpage.
-Policies to puncture the student loan bubble event at AEI - they have the BEST food EVER, including a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with oats.
ALSO: Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix from Harry Potter) walked through CAP, not five feet away from me and a group of interns. We just stood there in shock, not even thinking to ask for a picture or autograph. We are horrible people. She was appointed in January to Britain's new national Holocaust Commission, so she was attending an event at CAP about the topic.
30 June - An Evolving Partnership: U.S.-Japanese Relations After President Obama's Visit to Japan with the Japanese Ambassador, Kenichiro Sasae.
3 July - Brownbag with Gov. Ted Strickland, the President of CAP Action Fund and Counselor to CAP.
4 July - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!
I had a great 4th of July with another ed policy intern and her boyfriend. We went to Meridian Hill Park around 5pm and picnicked. Meridian Hill Park was lovely and had several fountains and statues.
9 June - My last day at CAP! I had a going away party with my higher ed team, had coffee with my supervisor, and took a picture with the kitchen crew.
Featuring everyone from the intern café except Tomas, who went to talk to his supervisor instead...
Thank you, CAP, for an incredible summer! I learned a ton and had a great time. I have a fellowship with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress 2014-2015, so I'll be back to visit!
25 July - After I left CAP, I was able to publish an article called "What Can the United States Learn From South Korea's Dominance In Higher Education?" on their blog, ThinkProgress.
Comment below - Tell me about your favorite things in DC. I need to know what to visit when I come back!
I was thinking about how to fix skin break out regularly additionally, noticed your site by google, Burberry prorsum biker jacket gathered huge loads of helpful information as of now i'm a piece clear.
ReplyDelete