What 2nd Semester Was

This post is a follow up to this one.

Okay, so my predictions weren't great, but they weren't terrible either. Not too shabby overall, I'd say.

While a full class schedule and an internship three days a week was definitely quite a bit to handle, I got through it with minimal damage to my GPA. Learned some new skills because of it too, chief among them being how to function on 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Important for someone in my (hopeful) line of work! The internship was a high point though, not a low one as I had predicted. Ended up being that work days weren't hard to wake up for and I really enjoyed myself. I was right that I would make plenty of connections, but way off on the cynicism.
While I thought I would be on the low end of the cynical spectrum in the office, it was probably the other way around. Most of the staff wasn't very transparently political and focused on the hard work of their substantive jobs. The amount they actually cared about sappy letters I occasionally passed on to them was quite a bit more than I would be able to show. I think it may have done the opposite of what I thought it would and made me want to be in politics more, but definitely on the campaign side where I am free to be a bit more emotionally detached.

The jaded-ness definitely occured, at least a little bit. By the second half of the internship I didn't get excited to speak with the Congressman on the phone or walk through the winding basement of the Capitol. By my last week I was a bit more into the coolness of it all, as I reminded myself to take it in before my ID got taken away and I no longer had access. Might be a while before I have it back.

I was very correct that I would have a fun spring break, without seeing too many people for much of it. The dual C.S.s made my week a blast. And yeah, I'm getting bored out of my mind waiting for people to return home and looking for a job. Hoping I find one soon. The prospect of a Santa Barbara trip sometime soon is also going to remove some boredom. Yay.

I'm kind of surprised that I errored a little bit on predicting my keeping in touch patterns. Had quite a bit less communication with Cupertino people than during first semester. I guess a lot less contact with GW people too. Just too busy to keep up the same level of chit chat as before. Still miss you guys though and am really looking forward to your shitty quarter system schools ending.

This semester made me realize a bit how much I enjoy delving into classes. First semester I had a lot of fun (looking back) actually doing the huge reading assignments for my poli sci class, going through dense articles for interesting tidbits. This semester pretty much everything I didn't have to do got blown off, and I miss the amount of secondary learning I got before. Still got through classes okay, which makes me wonder how people who are getting Cs in these classes manage to fail at life so hardcore. Not like I'm a hard sciences guy or something that requires actual thought.

Have I changed? Yes. Pretty much no doubt in my mind that I am a (slightly) different person than before. I am both more confident in my professional abilities and more mature. Working in an office (even if it wasn't the most serious one on the Hill) has helped me tone down some of the crap when I need to, while not excluding it from my personality as a whole. I was very glad to see that doing well at MV and GW has translated into being able to work well. This internship definitely hasn't harmed my ego.
And that brings me to the other obvious change, to me. I don't know what all I will have learned from Katie by the end of everything, but I know it'll be interesting and probably quite a lot. At least I'll have some stories, no matter what. Right now isn't the easiest time ever, but I was happier (and busier) for the last month of school than I had been in a long time, and I think that's worth some hardship. Especially when that pain can be anesthetized by a few hours in the car (e.g. sb trip mentioned above). I feel like this summer will be different personally than I would have predicted a couple months ago. Hope it's not a bad decision to pursue this and not other things.

But once again, something needs to pierce my ego. Maybe I'll fail to find a job this summer. Maybe I'll just read this in the morning and that will do the trick.

Quirks

I've been failing at blogging regularly, Some combination of being so busy and enjoying life too much to stop and blog about it. Yes, I am only interesting when I'm sad. Woe is me. But now I feel sick and just want to curl up in my bed instead of studying, so time to blog! GW has swine flu, too, so this could really be a lot of fun.

This past week has been pretty damn crazy. Last day of classes was Tuesday, and I had a ton of stuff due that day, so I ended up staying up till past 4 on Monday night before getting up for my 8 am. Got everything done relatively well and turned in and all, so not too bad.

Then I had to get up extra early on Wednesday to go on a White House tour before heading in to work. Pretty cool place, but a pretty underwhelming tour. Just 6ish ceremonial rooms on the first floor of the east wing. Still glad I got the opportunity to do it through work, though.

Thursday was another fun day as I went into work specially to participate in the tradition of a private lunch for outgoing interns and the congressman they work for. Getting to eat in the Member's private dining room is a nice treat any day, especially when the conversation ends up lasting for over an hour and being very interesting. Add a photo op to the day and it was a nice penultimate day of being on the Hill.

My last day or work on Friday certainly came with mixed emotions. Definitely chose the right time to leave, so I have time to study for finals over the next few days, but I really enjoyed the experience and the people in the office. Always nice to get tons of recommendation offers on your way out the door, too. The internship has both reaffirmed my interest in politics and my desire to work on campaigns more than doing actual governing work.

Things continue to be great with Katie, too, minus some drama with a mutual friend. Oh well, nothing can be perfect. The deadline 6 days from now certainly isn't, but it's the right choice for both of us. Expect a mopey me the first couple weeks of summer (not that most of you will be home anyway).

Shout-out to C for being there and willing to talk about shit recently! Much appreciated. Giggle.

Success!

I had a great weekend. Relaxed and awesome. So many people were out of town for passover/Easter/Congressional recess that the whole city was sort of dead, especially on campus.

I saw Watchmen on Friday night. It is definitely long, obtuse, and complicated, but I enjoyed it overall. I think it helps to see it in an empty-ish theater so that people don't get mad when you whisper questions back and forth while squirming to find a new position for your long-ago-asleep ass.

Also from Friday night. Correct me if I am wrong, but copious amounts of soy sauce don't belong on Chicken Pad See Eww, correct? I get it all the time without problem but this time it was drenched in the salty flavor blaster. Oh well, still okay enough to eat and enjoy the experience.

Saturday night a group of us went to see the fireworks marking the end of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Got a nice viewing spot looking across a still tidal basin at the Jefferson Memorial, with the fireworks exploding right above. The reflections on the water of the lit monument and the array of fireworks above was like a postcard. Very sweet. Later, it was time to open my shrink-wrapped American Psycho Uncut Version DVD and give it a watch. No clue what they changed, but it's still an amazing movie. I always seem to forget at least a few random ass moments of greatness.

Sunday was time for some quality family time. At 8 am after 4.5 hours of sleep. With two little girls under the age of 7. Hiking and picnicking. Still always nice to see some 2nd and 3rd cousins of mine and keep that connection going.

Okay, so this weekend sounds really lame when I type it out, but I assure you that it was really quite nice. I'm back into a work week about as tired as I left it, which means by the time I get to the end of it I will be hating myself with a passion. I just can't make myself sleep when there are more fun things I could be doing!