June 15, 2016

Hello! Welcome to my blog for my 2016 summer in Washington D.C. I will be using this space to document my nine weeks in the city as I intern for the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (WHIAIANE) at the Department of Education. As it’s my first time in D.C., I will also use the space to document the city because it is absolutely gorgeous here and there is always somewhere new and exciting to explore!

    

     I flew in last Sunday on June 5th and took a few days to myself to move in to my housing with a fellow CMCer, Latisha Shah. Devoting Monday and Tuesday to Target runs and tourist sites, I wandered around the city, finding that the IMF, World Bank, and several executive departments were literally blocks away from me. I had my cheesy patriotic moment at the Washington Memorial Monday evening as well, more than thrilled to find that it was walking distance from my dorm at George Washington University. I’ve found the Mall to offer a perfect running path, actually. After all, who wouldn’t enjoy running alongside the reflecting pool and up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial? Tourist sites aside, the city itself is beautiful and Latisha and I have found a handful of great eateries and bakeries to explore. A mutual CMC friend joined us for dinner one night who just completed the DC program offered through CMC. She encouraged us to join a website called https://dc.linktank.com/ in which events like movie screenings and talks at think tanks are posted, usually free, for us to attend. We’re really excited to take advantage of that resource while we are here.

    

     I began work at the DOE on Wednesday, June 8th where I met my supervisor, Ron Lessard, and five fellow interns. Everyone has been very welcoming and patient with the interns and we’ve all been very appreciative of that. Working at the DOE, or any federal agency for that matter, requires an intensive background check. All of us interns are currently going through that process and taking orientation classes online right now. Our projects kick off at the beginning of the next week as the spring interns leave and the summer interns (that being my team) move in. We’ve already been introduced to the projects available to us, and so many of them sound really interesting. I believe I will be working on 1) a native language revitalization project alongside my supervisor, 2) research for economic development on a specific reservation, and 3) research for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that pertains to American Indian and Alaska native students. I picked these projects because they all focus on something different and allow me to integrate my wide interests. The second and third projects will both allow me to work with other offices in the DOE, too, which I find particularly exciting. We’ve yet to begin these projects as our executive director comes in to the office tomorrow from travels in South Dakota. That being said, I’m finding my fellow interns, Ron, and policy advisor Mia, to all be very welcoming and friendly.

   

     I am admittedly a little nervous, but mostly excited about the experience to come. It will certainly be an adventure and offer me some great exposure to the bustling DC scene, and for that, I am very enthusiastic. Here’s to an adventurous and productive summer!