Hello! It appears I have reached the end of my nine
week venture in Washington DC and a close has come to my internship with the
White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education at the
Department of Education. I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have had the
opportunity to spend my summer in this great city and I extend my deepest
gratitude to the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights for having funded my stay.
Before I discuss
my final week in the office with the initiative, I must of course tell you
about the public policy conference I attended over the weekend. The Heinz
College of Carnegie Mellon invited me to a leadership conference this past
weekend to discuss a future in public policy and international affairs. I met
brilliant likeminded students from around the country for the event and I am
extremely glad I attended. The conference allowed me to share ideas and develop
new ones of my own regarding my next steps after graduation from CMC. I also
attended some fascinating workshops on the power of negotiation and the
necessity for respect in the workplace. I met some extremely accomplished
public servants with varied diverse backgrounds who inspired me to keep searching
for my specific passion in government. Public service is a thankless job and
the more time I spend around dedicated servants such as those I met this past weekend,
the more motivated I become to uphold their legacy and maintain their exemplary
work ethic.
I also
attended two think tank talks this past week. One was held at the US Institute
of Peace and was focused on art’s potential to become a tool for peace in the
Middle East. The other was at the Hudson Institute and discussed the challenges
impeding economic and political development in South Africa. Both talks were
really fascinating, but the first was definitely my favorite. It was refreshing
and inspiring to hear from “art lords” working in Afghanistan, Jordan, and
Iraq, to listen to them discuss their efforts to bring communities together to
color the streets with beautiful murals and art. Their courage spoke volumes to
me. I find it invaluable to listen to individuals who refuse to accept what is, who have the audacity to dream of
what could be. If it weren’t for
these brave minds with their tenacious refusal to accept the chaos and
destruction of war, we would be a lost species undoubtedly. But enough of my
romantic rambling of human rights activists! I will discuss my final week of
work now.
I completed
the majority of my projects before the beginning of my last week, a major
relief from my perspective. That being said, there was one massive project concerning
a database (with sensitive information) that had yet to be finished. With the
help of a few other interns, though, we were able to complete our work and left
the department feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Reflecting on my time
with my team, I was definitely presented with a great deal of leadership
opportunities, all of which I snatched quite aggressively. Humor aside, I believe
my work environment presented me with a perfect balance of structure and
flexibility. There was enough guidance, but enough leeway for me to get things
done with my own flair of creativity stamped on a majority of my projects.
Additionally, I really want to acknowledge how great my supervisors were. Bill Mendoza (the initiative’s director)
and Mia Long (senior policy advisor) embodied everything I look for in
superiors. They were passionate, humble, lighthearted bosses who never lost
sight of the big picture. I will forever be appreciative of their patience with
us interns during the first few weeks as well. What I admired most strongly,
though, was their sense of responsibility to those they serve and their unbending
principles that always moved them forward
from defeats. Their job is thankless
yet no matter how difficult their days were, they kept moving forward. No
matter how many projects were returned to their desks from the White House, no
matter how many tribal leaders angrily confronted them about their lack of work (as if), they never gave up. I can only hope to be as driven in my own career one
day.
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| Winning team 9 from Heinz College Conference |
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| Allie and Bri at the White House Initiative! |
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| My view from the Washington Monument after my evening runs |
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