Journal From the Beltway, Week 1

I'm desperately jealous of this child!  What an incredible experience..
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2019-2020 SGA President and rising Senior Caroline Lee has temporarily relocated to Washington D.C. for the St. Albans School of Public Service.  A highly selective opportunity, Caroline and about 40 of her newest friends will participate in a month-long "...in-depth exploration of government, politics, and public service."  Nestled between a French-immersion experience in Montreal last summer and, hopefully, a future of public/foreign service, Caroline is loading her reservoir with the experiences of a change-maker and a global citizen.  

In this space, for the next month, Caroline will be sharing her experiences with us.  You're guaranteed to get a little jealous, too.

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DC WEEK 1
 
The first week of the St. Albans School of Public Service was filled with fantastic speakers, group projects, day trips, and magnificent sites (I’m just getting over the shock of waking up every day to the MASSIVE cathedral outside my window). Our first full day started out strong; former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs Charles Stimson was our first speaker and gave a not-so-ordinary presentation: a mock law class on the subject of prisoners at Guantanamo bay. Though I cannot discuss specifics due to the “off the record” nature of our sessions, I can say that this was a such a unique experience that I will never forget it. However, Stimson was followed by many other great speakers, as well. Throughout the week we heard from a wide variety of people, from authors of a Justice Sandra Day O’Connor biography to a partner of an international law practice firm to a governmental cyber security expert. 
 
One of the greatest aspects of SPS is the method of teaching which parallels current affairs. Through case study discussions and groups projects, we have learned about the state of our nation and the world, and how to approach these issues efficiently and effectively. For example, we had a mock Supreme Court trial of the gerrymandering case which the Supreme Court was doing this week, too! We were also tasked with the challenge of creating a bill- my topic is immigration. 
 
Though every week day is filled with speakers and informative projects, we manage to take a few trips around the DC area. Some of my favorite trips have been meeting Justice Elena Kagan at the Supreme Court, touring the House floor with Pelosi’s floor director, and discussing Middle Eastern affairs with George Bush’s National Security advisor Stephen Hadley at the Hoover Institution, a libertarian think tank. I think I have to say Hadley’s talk was my high of the week, simply because his former occupation is my dream career. Since I am currently studying Arabic and working on acquiring more knowledge of American relations with the Middle East, meeting Hadley and even speaking with Puneet Talwar was such an amazing experience and I am still in shock that I was blessed with that opportunity. SPS does an amazing job of covering all fields of public service and giving all 51 students here the opportunity to explore their interests.
 
Though I’ve gone into great detail of our daily activities, I must add a little bit on the people. SPS is a community of individuals with very different political and social views who are all here to expand their knowledge of public service. The faculty are here to make sure we leave DC feeling educated and striving to keep on learning about the federal government and all its various fields. It’s not everyday where you can discuss your interpretations of the constitution with a guy from DC and a girl from Portland in between turns at the bowling alley. The first week has been such an amazing experience and I’m so stoked for week 2. 

Caroline