Summer Round Up
How can you summarize a summer in Washington? This summer marked several firsts: my first true dorm experience, first experience as a bachelor (cooking, cleaning, laundering, etc.), and my first experience in a seven years entering an entirely new work environment. I ate dozens of granola bars, walked nearly 100 miles, mastered eating on the […]
“What Did You Learn?”
Having been back from Washington for more than a month now, I have spent quite a bit of time updating my contact book, sorting through my Georgetown class notes, and wrapping up other loose ends. I’ve also been thinking through how I benefited from the summer. Since many friends have asked me what I learned, […]
USA Today
After lunch Sunday I went with about six other students out to McLean, Virginia for a tour of USA Today. After a lengthy subway ride and transfer to metro bus we arrived at the stunning 1,491,000 square foot Gannett-USA Today headquarters. The glass-walled building is made up of two office towers connected at the bottom […]
My Apologies
I’m sorry I have been so delinquent in my blogging (and virtually all other communications) recently. My academic workload peaked this week. The good news is that now it’s over. I have completed my classwork. Thursday night I had my last final. It was a challenging econ test with maybe a half-dozen essay questions. It […]
White House Briefing
Wednesday we had our first site briefing of the summer. The briefing covered the White House, although the event was actually held in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building because our group was too large to fit in the White House press room. Our first speaker was White House Communications Director […]
Learning from the “Real Guys”
One of the strengths of the program that I am participating in is that TFAS has the connections to command good speakers. Below are some of the interesting forums we have had recently. War Coverage Last Wednesday (June 23) we had a very interesting forum with three journalists who had covered the war: Simon Marks […]
Crossfire
Friday the Institute arranged for us to watch a live broadcast of CNN’s Crossfire at George Washington University. Crossfire features commentators from opposite ends of the political spectrum hashing current news. The general melee that ensues is designed as much for entertainment as communicating information. Earlier this week Al Sharpton co-hosted Crossfire representing the left. […]
Catching up
The last few days have been a blur. With internship work by day, classes by night, and homework whenever possible, I don’t spend much time sitting still. The Reagan funeral has also added to the hectic schedule. Nonetheless the last several days have been great. On Wednesday Fred Barnes (Weekly Standard; Fox News) spoke to […]
Jumping In
At the risk of over-summarizing, I will attempt to briefly report on the first two days of academic activity. June 6, 2004 The day was taken up with orientation session for the elective leadership scholars program. Session One We began the morning with a political leadership lecture by Steve Hayward, an author and Reagan expert. […]
Moving In
Friday I finished up my exams, and with help from my parents packed a good portion of my earthly possesions into the trunk of our Corolla. Around 6:30 we headed north to VA where we spent the night with dad’s mom (“G-mom”). Saturday morning we met my brother and sister-in-law (John & Darla) and drove […]