The End :) and :(

Its over. I cannot believe that my time in Washington, DC is up and that I will be on a flight out of the DC area in three hours. My feelings are conflicted about my internship ending having to go back to California. There are several people I have missed and there have been several instances when I wished I was back in California. At the same time, I loved working and living in DC these past two and a half months and enjoyed my time with fellow UC students and with The Raben Group's Principals and Associates. I guess I will be asked a lot of questions about DC when I return and I look forward trying to convince people that lobbyists are not evil people.

Now it is time to get ready for a day of flying. Chicago's Midway International is where I will have a scheduled one and a half hour layover but I hope that the forecasted snow does not delay either my arrival or departure. If everything goes according to plan I should land in Oakland at 4:50pm Pacific Time. What i am most interested in is whether or not I will have to go through one of those new body scanning machines a Dulles. If I have to go through both the scanner and a pat-down by a TSA officer I will not be pleased.

This will be my last post. Thank you to all who took the time to follow what I typed on this blog.

Lastly, I would like to thank Ellie and Amanda for being awesome supervisors these past ten weeks and for hiring me. I owe both of you.

Kevin N.

My Former Workplace

                                                       View from my bedroom window

                                                      

                                                         The computer that I worked with

                                                             My main work area

                                 

                                                        Conference Room

                                                                 Work Area

                                                                Kitchen

                                                    St. Mathew's Cathedral from the office

                                                                   The Front Desk

                                                          It was fun while it lasted

The Beginning of the End

Well, my last week of my internship is underway but it only seems like yesterday when I arrived at The Raben Group's office in September. I guess the old saying is true, time flies when you are having fun.

I have just begun what will likely be my final major assignment as I must review the voting records of every Congressman and Senator during the 111th Congress and find out how each member of Congress voted on a particular set of bills that were before them. It should take up most of the week if not all of my final three days.

Back at the UC Center, three Chiefs of Staff to three different Congressmen from California attended the Center's weekly forum and discussed their experiences, perspectives, and insights as a Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill. The most stunning revelation was that each Chief of Staff took completely opposite routes in life once they finished college and none of them are originally from California, yet somehow they are all Chiefs of Staff to a California Congressman.

As I walked around the office today I realized that I had not yet taken pictures of my workspace or of The Raben Group's offices. My next post will include pictures of where I have spent my last ten weeks as an intern.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Here are some picture from my trip to Arlington today.