2012 in Review

In thinking about this year, it has really been a formative turning point in my life.  As I look forward to 2013, I wanted to take a look back at all I've made it through in 2012 to get here.

This year I...
- lived with 13 crazy strangers in a tiny house in DC, yet felt so alone the whole time
- had to get used to going out and doing things on my own there
- felt anger towards how I was treated by roommates, teachers, and advisers in DC
- felt like I didn't have a voice to do anything about it
- felt homesick from being away from my family, friends, and boyfriend for so long
- was depressed and doubtful of my future after 4 months of job searching without success
- was scared of what graduating and being independent meant
- realized I'd gained weight and my clothes weren't fitting right; felt insecure about my body
- made myself never miss a day at the gym and count my calories
- made myself go through and organize almost everything in my room/that I own with my free, jobless time
- was disappointed that I'd have to be an intern, yet again
- stressed about adjusting to two new work environments at the same time
- put so much pressure on myself to do an amazing job so I'd get hired full time

It has been a year for growth and for getting my life in order. After all the craziness and struggle that has been this year, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm in a really good place.  I'm getting to where I envisioned myself to be as I am half-way to turning 22.

I have a steady job that I really love in the city that I love and where my family is, I could not be happier or more supported in my relationship, and I am starting to feel confident in my body for the first time ever after getting into shape and losing a few pounds.

I'm sure there will be many more challenges ahead in 2013, but right now I am celebrating all the progress I've made.  Thanks to all of you who had my back, listened, and supported me through it all.

Job Update

I am happy to announce that I recently accepted a fall internship position with Complete Public Relations!  An internship with an agency will give me the hands on knowledge and experience I need to secure a full time position in the industry.

Complete has a unique approach to public relations focusing on media and crisis communications.  They have done work with political campaigns and non-profits, as well.  I feel my experience in media with WSPA-TV, non-profits with Safe Harbor, and politics with Congressmen Clyburn's office aligns well with what they do.

I am very excited to get back to work after a nice summer off, especially with such a new and growing firm in Greenville.  I am sure there is a lot to learn.

Final DC Days

I can't believe I'm actually HOME!!!  I've been waiting for this moment for so long, and it is truly wonderful.  This experience has been so hard, and I definitely have a better appreciation for my life and everything I have after going through it.

I was hoping my last week would be smooth sailing, but clearly that was too much to ask for or expect.  I'll focus on the positive for the blog though.  Monday, I went to a Clemson event with some of my coworkers after work.  We got to bowl and eat for free while meeting some Clemson alumni, Clemson students, and other staffers in the SC delegation.  That was a nice way to start out my week.  Tuesday, I got to see the Discovery shuttle on top of a 747 flying over DC on its way to the Smithsonian.  That was really cool!  It was flying pretty low and came by in four different directions.  Everyone in my office went outside to watch it.  That night, I had to present my white paper.  It went well until the question period, where my roommates completely grilled me.  Thursday, we had an end of the semester breakfast for our program with all of us and our supervisors.  The dean of the USC honors college also came, as well as the director of our program and some of our professors.  We each had to say a few words about our offices and our supervisors had to say some words about us.  I was wonderfully surprised at the things my boss had to say about me.  He said I was more like a staffer than an intern, and the reason they may have overworked me is because they trust me and that is a big deal.  It was really nice.  Thursday night in theater class, we had to present our final projects.  I think my presentation went fine, but there was some drama with everyone else.  I don't understand why people couldn't let things go during the final week, when we all would be home in a few days, but then again, I don't understand why anyone would have acted the irrational and immature way they did over the course of the semester either.  Anyway, I don't need to go into all of that on here, but I went to bed Thursday night, joyful that it would be the last time I'd have to wake up in that house.

Discovery Shuttle on 747 over the Library of Congress

Friday was my last day of work.  Mom and Dad came around 2:30, and I took them on a tour of the Capitol and our offices.  I really showed them everything, and that was fun.  We got done around 4:30, and my office said I could just leave then.  I chatted with everyone for a while before I actually left.  It was a nice talk, and I hope I showed them all how truly thankful I am for them.  Everyone in my office really made it a great experience for me.  How great they were really meant so much more than they know since I had so many issues with the roommates, the house, the professors, and the classes.  It was so nice to know I could look forward to coming to work, and my coworkers showed me so much respect and friendship.  I am already missing them.  Then we headed to the house and got my stuff packed up in record time (an hour)!  I am so glad I never have to set foot in that house again, but I am going to miss Charlotte, Seth, and Angelica terribly.  They were the best roommates I've ever had, and quickly became my best friends.  I seriously could not have survived this semester without them.  I'm so glad they were there for me, and we could vent to each other about anything.  I hope we really do stay in contact.

Charlotte, Seth, and I

Saturday, my parents and I went on a riverboat cruise to see the monuments.  I had gotten some free tickets at Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton's Ask Me About DC event on the hill a while back, and I was really excited to go.  Seeing the city by water was a really great way to conclude my DC semester.  It reminded me of how majestic and historic DC really is, which I'd maybe forgotten in living there for four months with everything else I had going on.  It was perfect weather, too - not too hot, too cold, or too windy.  I got my last amazing views of the monuments with my parents on a perfect day.

U.S. Capitol Building

Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center

Watergate Complex

Next, we went to the White House for the Spring Garden Tour!  I wanted to get my parents a White House tour, since we didn't get to go when we came to DC when I was in high school.  A few weeks before this, we found out the White House would be closed on my move-out weekend.  It was odd, because they didn't say why.  Then a week or so ago, we found out they were closed because this would be the one weekend a year they do the spring garden tours, and we were able to get tickets from my office.  That was a great surprise!  The tour was awesome and so much better than the regular White House tour I went on, so we really lucked out.  The presidents plant trees on the grounds every year they are in office, so they had all of those trees labeled with the picture of the president planting it.  We also go to see the rose garden, beehive, children's garden, and kitchen garden that Michelle Obama started.  We also got to see Sasha and Malia's swingset and the oval office right next to it.  We got to walk so close to the house and that famous fountain!  It was really cool, and there were tons of great picture opportunities.  Then, when we tried to leave, they wouldn't let us out for some reason.  They were holding a bunch of us inside the gates.  Eventually, we learned it was because Obama was coming back from an event and his motorcade had to drive where we would be exiting.  We couldn't see him or even the cars too much from where we were in the crowd, but it is neat that he was so close.

So close!!!

My parents and I so close to the White House!

Me with the South Lawn

Rose Garden

Sasha and Malia's swingset and Oval Office

My parents and I with the full White House

Me at the White House!

Me with the famous fountain

White House Kitchen Garden

We grabbed a bite to eat, then headed out of town.  The drive went well, and we got home around 1:30.  To wrap up my DC semester, I thought I'd do a top 10 list of my favorite experiences, so here goes:
10. National Gallery of Art
9. Holocaust Museum
8. Natural History Museum
7. Hairspray at Signature Theater
6. Eastern Market
5. Cherry Blossom Festival (blossoms themselves, fireworks, and parade)
4. Monuments River Cruise
3. Crime and Punishment Museum
2. White House Spring Garden Tour
1. Sitting in the gallery during a vote

I'm so grateful for this semester and all it brought - the good and the bad.  I think I'm a much stronger person, because of it.  I got to do a lot of amazing things.  So I guess I'm done with college...now on to graduation and the job search!

Am I done yet?

Well, to be frank, this week sucked.  Work has been really stressful and crazy.  This is one of the busiest weeks of the year for tourism in DC, since it is Easter week, and the Capitol was so packed.  I gave one tour, which turned out to be a nightmare since part of the group was late, and it was the last tour of the day so everything was closing up.  People are so rude.  They were late then complained that they didn't get to see enough.  I'm not sure what people's expectations are, but I think the Capitol is really cool!  I hate feeling like I let anyone down, but I think these people just had a bad attitude, and it wasn't me.  I guess the crowds are getting to everyone.  There were a lot of people gone from the office this week, too, so I was doing a lot.  It was nice to have more responsibility and things to do, but also not so fun since I barely had time to take a breath or eat.  I was also told I was going to be attending the Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday, but then a few days later learned that I couldn't go as an intern.  That was a huge heartbreak.  I mean, I never in a million years thought I would get to go to something like that so I was seriously ecstatic when I found out.  Then after being so emotionally drained all week and looking forward to that to keep me going, finding out I wouldn't be able to go was really tough.  Thank goodness I had Friday off, or I might have really gone crazy!

Thursday for theater class, we went to see Taming of the Shrew by Synetic Theater, but it wasn't typical Shakespeare at all.  It was silent!  There was music, but no words.  It was also supposed to be a modern hip hop version set in a very smutty Hollywood-type city.  It was bizarre, kind of crude, and I did not like it at all.  I don't think anyone in the house did.  It wasn't a great way to end my week or a good play to end this theater class on.

I came home on Thursday to find the cutest popcorn tin from my Aunt Jean.  I definitely needed a pick-me-up so that was just perfect!  She spoiled me too much when she was here, so I can't believe she sent me this popcorn, too!

Popcorn tin from Aunt Jean

Friday I decided to go to the Smithsonian National Zoo.  I made the mistake of waiting to eat lunch until I got there.  The zoo was crazy busy, and I had to wait probably almost 30 minutes in line to get food.  I almost felt awful and faint, because I had to wait so long.  It is not fun to feel that way when you are somewhere by yourself.  Moments of weakness like that and being surrounded by so many families at a place like the zoo reminds me of how much better it is to do things with other people instead of alone.  It is the times like those when I get a twinge of homesickness again and can't wait to just be with the people I love even doing the little, mundane things.  In general, it was hard to walk anywhere without a person or a stroller in your way as it was so busy there.  The zoo itself was cool though.  Its very big, and the big draw is the Giant Panda habitat.  I had never seen a panda before and seeing one up close was neat.  I also liked the meerkats - really cute.  There were some peacocks, which are just breathtaking, as well.  It is a lot of walking though so I was beat when I finished.

Panda!

Peacock

Flamingos

Meerkat

Saturday, I was kind of at a loss as to what to do with myself, so I decided to check out the Pentagon City Mall.  It was a pretty nice mall.  I just did a lot of looking mostly, but I did finally find myself a graduation dress at Forever 21.  I had been looking for a few weeks but didn't see anything that really hit me.  I love what I got.  I will be able to wear it to work and for other nice occasions, too.  The best part is that its bright purple!  Go Tigers!  I also bought myself a Cherry Blossom Festival shirt at Union Station on my way home.  That night there were fireworks down at the SW waterfront for the Cherry Blossom Festival, so I gathered up some of the roommates and off we went.  It was a nice show, but then the metro was crazy for a while with the huge crowd leaving the area.  We decided to try to find a restaurant or coffee shop to hang out at until the rush died down, but that was ultimately a failure so we just walked around for a good bit.

Red fireworks

Tons of gold fireworks during the finale

Today I was pretty bored and again didn't know what to do with myself.  I did my fairly regular Sunday tradition of going to Eastern Market for my favorite crepe and to look around.  I ended up just doing a work out video and watching some movies on my computer after that.  I'm really getting to the point where I'm just ready to go home.  Other than the few things I have planned for next weekend and when my parents are here to move me out the weekend after that, I'm done with everything I wanted to do and see here.  Living with 14 other people in this tiny house is wearing on a person, this week at work was crazy, and I'm done with all of my schoolwork, so I'm counting down the days.  I'm excited to get back to SC soon and be with my family and friends.  I swear this experience has made me appreciate the South so much more.  I'm craving some good BBQ and summer time fun.  It is also scary though as going home approaches since I literally have no plans after graduation day on May 11.  This has to be the first time in my life that has ever happened, and to a planner like me, that is pretty inconceivable in my mind.  As much as I'd like to relax and travel before I land a job, like everyone is telling me to, there is no way I can just sit around and not be stressing until I find something.  I want to start my life, and I want it to be the right thing, not just the available thing.  I can't rest until I find it, but the job search has been pretty sparse so far.

With the semester drawing to a close, some of you may be wondering what this blog will be afterwards.  Maybe you're not...but I guess I'm trying to answer myself on that question right now.  I still want to keep it up, though I likely won't have as many sightseeing adventures to document.  I'll probably do some general life update posts infrequently when something big happens or I take a trip.  I definitely want to write more about PR and social media related topics.  I've always wanted to since I started it, but I let the DC posts take priority for the time being.  Maybe in my unemployment I'll finally have time to be as crafty as you would think I am from looking at my Pinterest boards and post about that!  And I'll put it in writing right now so I stick to it - I want to try a diet when I get home, and I may write about how that goes.  We'll see!

Sorry for the mildly depressing post, but no worries!  I'm bringing out my favorite Coldplay and James Morrison tunes, which always feel so right and have gotten me through a lot.  I'm hoping the next two weeks are much better than this one, and I'll be home before I know it.

Official pic with Congressman Clyburn

Two Weeks of News and Spying!

It has been a little while since I posted last, so I have a lot to catch up on!  Work has been great, as I've gotten to do some more exciting things lately.  I finally did the Capitol tour training, so now I will be able to give people tours of the Capitol building.  There are so many interesting and historic parts of the Capitol and lots of fun facts to learn and share with others.  I need to practice a bit before my first one, but I'm excited.  I've also gotten to see the congressman do some interviews.  One was for Martin Bashir on MSNBC.  I tweeted about getting to see the filming of it, and I got retweeted by @BashirLive, which is the show's official twitter handle.  That is kind of amazing!  It is the moments like these that remind me of my importance here.  I also got to sit in on a meeting with the congressman and President Barker from Clemson.  It was great to finally meet him and funny we met in DC, not at school.

I went to a two day training session on how to be an "online activist" using social media and blogging with my roommate, Ryan, at the Leadership Institute.  It was great to finally get an opportunity to learn more about my field, and I'm thankful my office is nice enough to let me attend things like that.  The Leadership Institute is a conservative organization, so I had to ignore some frequent anti-liberal remarks, but overall the training was pretty useful.  I'm proud of myself for being open-minded enough to attend something there, as I knew when I walked in and saw a portrait of George W. Bush on the wall behind the receptionist I did not belong.  There was also a framed newspaper with the headline, "Clinton Impeached!" outside of the training room.  That freaked me out a little!  I felt a bit like a secret liberal spy.  It is always good to know how the other side operates, too...haha.

Two interns in my office are done with their internships now, so it will just be me and one other girl who only comes in 2 and 1/2 days a week.  It was sad to see Helen, my Australian friend, go as we have become good friends, and she was very helpful in the office.  Hopefully I'll get to Australia one day, and she can show me around :]  It will definitely be different and probably busier, being the only intern in the office most of the time now.

Helen and I

Last weekend, I decided to go to the Newseum.  I had heard a lot of great things about it and had wanted to get there for a while.  It was pretty neat.  Obviously they have lots of newspapers with headlines from important moments in history, and those are cool to see.  They also had a pretty large part of the Berlin Wall, and an exhibit on 9/11, including a large mangled-up antenna from the top of one of the twin towers.  There were some fun artifacts from elections, SNL skits, the Daily Show, and the Colbert Report.  They have a great balcony you can go on with a wonderful view of the Capitol and the Mall.  They film ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos in a studio there, so I got to go in there, too.  The tickets were good for two days.  I finished all the exhibits on day one, but they had the chief White House correspondent for Politico come talk on Sunday so I went back for that.  I was glad I did.

Newseum

Berlin Wall

Union is Dissolved Newspaper

Antenna from 9/11

On the Balcony

Thursday we went to another play for theater class.  This one was "Red" at Arena Stage.  It was about painter, Mark Rothko, and his assistant.  He was getting paintings ready for the Four Seasons, and dealing with issues of his relevance as an artist and whether he was "selling out" by accepting a commission for these paintings.  It was pretty interesting and emotional.  He was getting to the end of his career and having to legitimize his life and choices as an artist.

This Saturday we had our White House tour that I had gotten from my office!  It was pretty much what I had heard it would be, which was a bit disappointing.  Obviously, they can't show you any of the really cool places that they use all of the time, as that would be too complicated.  Therefore, you really don't get to see much.  You can peek your head in a few rooms, then walk through a few more, and all of the sudden you're going, "that's it?"  It is also a self-guided tour, so you don't have anyone really telling you about what the rooms or for or anything.  It is still neat to say you've been in the White House, but if you don't get to go, you're not missing out on much.

At the White House

Today I went to the International Spy Museum, which was another I had been looking forward to going to for a while.  It was really great and worth the money.  They take you in and you immediately choose a cover.  I was "Angelena Falcone," a 21-year-old travel agent from Italy, going to Vietnam for 30 days on a "business trip."  Then you go through a section that teaches you how to be a spy and spot people using surveillance or who could also be spies.  You get to see a lot of cool spy gadgets and technology.  Then there are sections about actual spies from the U.S. and other countries and their stories.  I was pretty impressed.  The gift shop had lots of cool stuff, too, including "Agent Double Gnome 7" merchandise - so cute!  I couldn't resist and bought something.  I hadn't gotten any souvenirs for myself  before this.

International Spy Museum

Cool Car!

Agent Double Gnome 7

I also walked through the National Postal Museum before I went home, as it is right next to Union Station.  I walk by it all the time and thought it might be worth taking a few minutes to walk through.  It used to be the City Post Office so it is a really neat building.

National Postal Museum

Old City Post Office

Old Mailboxes

I've been trying to make my posts more interactive with links to the different places I'm going.  That's all for now.  I CANNOT WAIT until Friday when Jake comes!  Woo hoo for seeing him and having a four day weekend with Friday and Monday off of work.  I'm working on a fun list of things to do while he is here.

Getting into the Swing of Things

Continuing where I left off last time, Sunday I took a me day.  I finally got a Smartrip card, which will make riding the metro so much easier, and I took a stroll around Eastern Market, which is a wonderful farmers and flea market with lots of fun food and arts vendors very close to our house.  It was pretty darn cold, so I didn't stay too long.  I will definitely be going back there though.  So many great scarves, jewelry pieces, hats, and other cool things.  I've also heard they have a great brunch.  Then I took some time to catch up on my TV shows online, write some letters to pen pals, and call family.  It's a little odd not having any alone time really, as I'm always with some of my roommates since there are so many of us.  I need to take some time for myself, and I always love it when I do.  Monday was a pretty chill day, too.  We went to the Washington Wizards game, then I came home and did some laundry.

Washington Wizards vs. Houston Rockets

The rest of the week I worked, of course!  It's really the most important reason why I'm here, but it is very easy to forget that with all the fun I'm having.  It's been amazing and stressful at the same time.  I feel like I've adjusted to working a little better than I did when I began my internship over the summer, because I have had that experience.  However, of course there are the times where I'm unsure of myself and feel like the new intern that doesn't know anything.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to make an amazing impression and exceed the highest expectations.  As I've learned with internships, it's what you make of it.  You have to ask, ask, and ask some more to do things you want to do and gain those opportunities.  I'm trying hard to make all of my time here as productive as possible, even when I don't have a specific task assigned to me.  My Friday was pretty amazing.  I got to actually go into the House chambers, walk around the floor, and sit in the front row.  I will have to go again when they are in session.  I went into the members only cloak room inside the chambers, and I got to stand on the speaker's balcony, seeing the view a president would see of the mall on inauguration day.  It was absolutely amazing.  Even though I get to go inside the Capitol on a daily basis, I feel like it will never get old.  The inside of that building is so elaborate and wonderful.  I am constantly looking around in awe, thankful of the privileges I have.

Clyburn's Office in Rayburn

My Badge!  Not the greatest picture, but it gets me to some amazing places!

It snowed a little last night, which looked pretty but also made things a little slippery today.  I wanted to do something since it was Saturday, so I decided to shop.  There is a Forever 21, H&M, and Zara, all right next to each other in Chinatown.  Can you say shopping heaven?  They all had some pretty great sales, too, so I got some cute things I needed.  Then went to a Chinese place in Chinatown with my roomie and got a cupcake after as well.  DC has a lot of cupcake places, so I've been wanting to try one. It was a really really fun day.  Things are great, and I feel at home in DC and at work.

First Week in the City

This first week has been really exciting.  We did a scavenger hunt ALL over DC on Tuesday.  We pretty much walked from 9:30 am to 5 pm, and I got the worst blisters ever.  It was a lot of fun though, and we got to see a lot of things that we wouldn't normally be looking for.  It helped us get to know each other and the different neighborhoods around town.

Presidents Mural at Mama Ayesha's

Wednesday we toured the Library of Congress and the Holocaust Museum.  We all got library cards, which is kind of awesome.  I can go study in the Library of Congress whenever I want now!  I feel like more of a true Washingtonian.  The Holocaust Museum was pretty moving.  I've wanted to go there for so long, and it did not disappoint.  We spent all afternoon there.

The next day we went to the American History museum, where we looked through and also got to talk to the curator of entertainment, pop culture, and sports.  It was really interesting to hear how the museum acquires artifacts and how they decide what is displayed or stored.  It sounds like quite a struggle for the museums to compete with private collectors for items.  I ended up having a free afternoon while everyone else was busy with work stuff so I went to the grocery store by myself.  It was good to have some alone time and get comfortable going on the metro by myself for a change.

Yesterday was my first day of work!  Holy moly!  I was expecting to be really overwhelmed and stressed out, but it was actually a really nice start.  Everyone in the office is very nice and friendly.  It was a pretty chill day since the house wasn't in session.  The other intern is from Australia, so it was really interesting to chat with her about different cultural differences and things, and she was really helpful.  Next week the house goes back into session so I'm sure it will be different and much busier.  I'm so lucky to get to work for Clyburn.  He has an office in the rayburn building and another one in the capitol since he is the assistant democratic leader so I'm excited to spend some time in both places.  I probably won't go into a lot of detail about work things on here, but I did hear some talk of part of my job being giving tours of the capitol, which is very exciting to a debate nerd like me :]

Today I walked around with two of my roommates to the Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, FDR, MLK Jr., and Korean war memorials.  I actually had never seen the FDR or MLK Jr. memorials before so that was really cool.  I think the Thomas Jefferson memorial is probably my favorite.  I love how it's out on the water.  It's really gorgeous.

So that's the lowdown on this week.  It's been busy and fun, but now it's time to get to business a bit too with the internship and classes starting up.

My Internship! and Figuring Myself Out

After weeks of pursuit in applications and interviews, I found out right before Thanksgiving that I will be interning in Representative and Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn's office in the spring.  I am so excited to get involved in politics with such an influential and important man.  I have so much respect for what he has done and what he continues pursuing for South Carolina and the nation.  I hope to learn a lot in this position and have the experience of a lifetime.

I've been thinking about this whole semester and what its going to mean to me.  This is really the craziest thing I've ever done, now that I think about it.  I've lived in Greenville pretty much my whole life.  I've had mostly the same friends since I was in elementary school or I've extended my circle with friends of those friends.  I decided to attend a university 50 minutes from my home that I knew a lot about because my brother went there.  It's comfortable.  Even though I have accomplished a lot and had the opportunities to travel many places, I have never really done anything truly as independent as this.  I'm going to be living with 16 people I've never met in a new (and big) city for a whole semester.  This is a big deal for me.

And I think its exactly what I need.  If you're going to do something like this, college is the time to do it.  I'm still figuring out who I am and what I want in life.  I feel that this semester can help me figure that out.  I think it could really shape me and change me.  I think sometimes its exhilarating and good for your development as a person to do something drastic and have a change of scenery.  I know its going to be challenging in a lot of ways, but that's the only way to grow and become stronger.

This is the first time in my life I've not had a plan.  I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do after May.  I'm graduating, and I feel lost.  I'm applying to graduate school, but I don't know if I need it or if my heart is really in it.  Honestly, it might just be a way for me to put off the real world, though I don't want to admit it.  I don't know what to put in as keywords when I search for jobs online.  I can't seem to label myself as one thing that will define me for the rest of my life.  I don't know how anyone can at 20.  I'm starting to be okay with that.  I'm going to focus on the present, which means enjoying the holidays at home with my family and friends and embracing every minute in DC when I get there.  I know I'll figure it out eventually.