Anyway...
Monday was a typical day for me. I went to work from 10-5 as usual and worked on all of the different projects I've been assigned. I finished up some writing, edited about six stories, then started the advertising project. I should be pretty occupied for a while. It was strange though because since this week is "dark week" not many people are in the office at all. Pretty much just the online team, a few year long interns and the office assistants. Monday night was the last lecture for my Ethics class...I can't believe how fast that class went either (and how much I learned)
Tuesday was a very busy day actually. I went into the office early around 9am to get some work done, then I met my mentor, Marta, to take a tour of her office and grab lunch. I was about 30 minutes early--since I can't follow directions to save my life and I didn't want to be late--so I went to H&M on the corner and shopped around a little bit. I got this really cute skirt for only $10! Then when it was time to meet Marta, I went to her building which was located right in Washington Center (this beautiful building that houses literally hundreds of organizations and businesses). It was so neat! She works for the Podesta group, and she said they had hired 8 interns this summer, which is crazy! We went to lunch at this make-your-own salad and sandwich place which was delicious. We talked and then exchanged resumes, which was really helpful. She gave me some good pointers on how to format and arrange my resume and then let me see her's too...very neat.
After lunch, I took the train to Union Station to meet Tobin Smith--the man I am interviewing for my Internship Seminar class--but he actually had to reschedule last minute, so I wound up walking around for a while. I had some time to kill, so I decided spur of the moment to go to Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guards. It was a much longer walk than I anticipated (I was still in my "professional dress" clothes, as TFAS calls them, so I definitely didn't plan well for this haha) But it was really neat to see, and the tomb of the unknown solider was huge, I had no idea. I need to learn to start taking my camera with me everywhere...I've been so bad about that lately.
Then Tuesday night was my seminar class. We talked about "press coverage of the white house" and what we thought their responsibility was when it comes to election time. Then at the end, we were given an assignment and we had to come up with 100 ideas of different stories to do about political candidates who are running for office. We got to about 55 and then were stumped haha But it was really intriguing to think about all the different angles you can take when trying to produce a story.
Wednesday I went to my internship until 1pm. Then IPJ went to The National Press Club for the annual IPJ awards ceremony. I decided to walk there from work because it was such a beautiful day. I was just about a mile, and I got to walk right behind the White House which was neat. The National Press Club was incredible. Huge, magnificent, overwhelming, all of the above. IPJ gave out several awards. One was the collegiate award, and this year a reporter from "The Stanford Review" won the award for his investigative journalism into the fraud of his student government. A reporter from USA Today, Kathy Chu, won the excellence in economic award for uncovering fraud attempt with banks trying to charge customers for non-existent over draft fees. The excellence in investigative reporting actually went to two ladies from The Philadelphia Daily News. They wrote a story about cops using drug dealers as undercover deals to try and bust other drug dealers. But as it turned out, the cops had been breaking into all of the convenience stores, smashing the surveillance cameras, and then threatening store owners that if they told anyone what was happening, if there was ever an emergency and these store owners needed 911 for any reason, no one would respond to the call. It was hands down the most interesting story I've ever heard. And the reporters were amazing! They weren't scared at all to pursue the story, even though they were threatened everyday...we need more reporting like this. Solid, investigative, unbiased and well written journalism. I reaffirmed my faith in why I want to go into this field. Here are a few pictures I stole from my roommate, Emmy. There are more to come!
After the ceremony, we had a free night, FINALLY! Everyone decided to metro it back to campus and have a lazy night relaxing (since we NEVER get to do that) but it was so beautiful that I decided to walk the 2.5 miles back to the bus stop. It was so nice out and I never get time to just walk and not have to be somewhere, so it was really nice. I came back to campus and then my roommates and I went to the "avocado cafe" to get dinner. It was delicious, we'll definitely have to go back. I joined some friends around 9pm for a study session because we had our final exam tonight. It did help to study with other people and review, but I think I was just so beat I didn't really retain anything haha
Thursday morning from 8am-10am I had a professional development series about "cover letters, resumes, and interviews." It actually was really helpful. It was run by my program director and program advisor, so I really enjoyed it because they make the whole program so fun. I learned a lot too! They told us how to format our resumes for different offices and we did mock type interviews. After that I went into work around 11am. I got a press release about an anti-Kagan rally happening at the Supreme Court, so I went to check that out. There were about 50 people from YAF (Young Americans for Freedom) protesting the nomination of Kagan. There were tons of speakers who came and pumped up the crowd. It was really neat to see a protest/rally in action. After that I went back to work and continued some assignments there. I cut out a little early to make it back in time for my exam, and who do I run into on the street a block away from my office but my cousins!! Addison, Cameron and Mrs. Courson were all walking back to their apartment from Mr. Courson's office (who works 2 blocks from me!) It was so funny. I was on the phone with my mom catching up about my day, then all of a sudden I heard a little voice say, "Huntley?!" (it was addison's) what a small world that we would run into each other that like! It was a wonderful surprise though...definitely made my day :)
My exam started at 6:30, and it wasn't too bad. Pretty much what I was expecting. He kept us after the exam and told us what a great class we were for him and we had story time...it was quite amusing haha. I can't believe Ethics class is over though! I have one more paper due Wednesday for the class, but then that's it! So weird...
Okay, well it is time for bed, I am exhausted. Til next time!
Huntley
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