Those of you who know me well probably know that I don’t like to admit when something is difficult for me. I have a tendency to suck it up, deal with the ensuing stress, and only ask for help in the most dire of circumstances. But I would be ridiculous to try and sugar coat this.
This job is hard.
I’m still very convinced that this is where God wants me to be this year. That isn’t diminished in this admission. But I am accepting that I have so many things to learn and become better at, and the road will probably be very stressful at times.
Over the past several weeks various staff I’ve worked with have reiterated a single concept to me: You don’t ever stop learning at this job, no matter how long you work here. I won’t lie, this is immediately intimidating to me because I feel like I have so many of the basics left to cement, and the idea that eventually I’ll have everything down pact is comforting. But there will always more to learn. And it’s worth it. The bigger part of me is invigorated by this. Remember, this is coming from the girl who loves school.
These past few weeks have been fun but stressful, interesting but sometimes frustrating. I spent the last two weeks in my position as a resident counselor, sans training or shadowing. Those two weeks were also summer break, meaning that the schedule was very different. The girls and staff got to do many different, fun activities. I got to go lazer tagging with two girls and then joined a full staff and all four girls on a mini trip up to Lake of the Pines for two nights for boating and relaxation and then spent a day at Raging Waters in Sacramento. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing the girls out of their regular setting. I loved seeing them truly enjoy themselves at times.
Now we’re back to the school schedule, and today was their first day back. I had a heck of a time getting them out the door, and the “F you’s” and “F school’s” were flying. In the end, they were half an hour late. All to say that it was an interesting transition from this weekend.
I went home from Thursday to Sunday to see Breanne, one of my best friends, get married. I had such a great time with my friends, family, and boyfriend, but it was hard. I feel like I got to experience what every weekend could have been like if I had stayed down south this year. I won’t lie, that hurt for many reasons.
Olive Crest, a nonprofit in Santa Ana fairly similar to Advent, was all but offering me a position before I accepted my current job. If you were to ask me why I made the choice I did, I honestly couldn’t give you many concrete reasons. In fact, if I had gone by my personal pros and cons list, I probably would have stayed down south. But I knew that I was called to Advent. And I stand by that. God had captured my heart with this particular organization. He doesn’t make mistakes.
I was reading Habakkuk last night – random, I know – and was so struck. The book begins with the prophet Habakkuk crying out to God about all of the injustice in the world, wondering why God was seemingly remaining idle. God’s response: “For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” Wow … Wow. It really took me aback, and honestly, when I think about it right now, it still does. I believe that what He said to Habakkuk is still true now. If we knew all that God was doing in us and around us and through us, we couldn’t possibly believe it. We don’t have that kind of sight.
In the midst of pain, of stress, of frustration, there is God. In the midst of learning, there is God. In every moment, in every breath, there is God. In tears and in laughter, there is God. There is God, who is doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
There Are No Mistakes.
1) The girls have already absolutely stolen my heart.
2) I’ve learned a lot about myself these past two weeks. (And this process will continue, I’m sure.)
3) It’s going to be a challenging year.
Yesterday ended my initial training. Beginning Sunday, I will be acting as a residential counselor on my own. I’m so excited to fully step into that role. I’m also very well aware that these girls will likely do all that they can to pull the wool over my eyes. One of the most frustrating parts of the job for me is that I can’t fully trust any of the girls’ word. I’ve learned which ones are generally more reliable than others and begun to pick up on the areas that certain girls lie about on a regular basis. It’s made me appreciate the people in my life who I can trust all the more – the ones who will tell you how it really is, regardless of any implications.
Overall, it was an amazing shift. I think the girls are beginning to trust me even just a little bit. They show it subtle ways. One extremely independent girl asked me to french braid her hair for her. A girl read six or seven raps to me that she had written herself. One girl who was trying to put on an act finally admitted the truth to me because “I acted like I really cared.” Another showed me a page of her diary that she said no one had ever seen before.
Those moments when they open their hearts to me just a tiny bit make the very long, sometimes stressful days very, very worth it. I close each evening by going to each of the girls rooms to say goodnight and pray with those who will let me. How can that not give me the energy to wake up the next morning for the next long day? It’s more than worth it. Praying with them also reminds me of why I am ultimately doing this job. It’s about more than their drug addictions. Much, much more. At the end of the day, it’s their hearts I’m concerned about.
I definitely had several moments this last week in which I wished little bits of me could be different for this job. I wished I weren’t white. I wished I personally knew what it was like to fight a substance addiction. I wished I had a louder personality. But every time I was reminded that I am who God made me to be. God didn’t want someone else to have this job. He chose me. All of me. Not just the parts that made me capable. There are no mistakes.
I know the same is true of the girls I work with. It’s not a mistake that some were born to parents who use. It’s not even a mistake that some have been abused. It’s a tragedy, an absolute tragedy. Those things break my heart, and I know God’s tears were filled with more sadness than any of ours. But they weren’t mistakes. God can use even those horrible, horrible things in their lives. I know that’s hard to believe now, but I believe that with all of my heart.
Please pray for my girls. They’re all such beautiful people. And please pray for me. My R.C. job begins with a bang on Sunday – I have 14 hours alone with the girls. Please pray for that time.
2) I’ve learned a lot about myself these past two weeks. (And this process will continue, I’m sure.)
3) It’s going to be a challenging year.
Yesterday ended my initial training. Beginning Sunday, I will be acting as a residential counselor on my own. I’m so excited to fully step into that role. I’m also very well aware that these girls will likely do all that they can to pull the wool over my eyes. One of the most frustrating parts of the job for me is that I can’t fully trust any of the girls’ word. I’ve learned which ones are generally more reliable than others and begun to pick up on the areas that certain girls lie about on a regular basis. It’s made me appreciate the people in my life who I can trust all the more – the ones who will tell you how it really is, regardless of any implications.
Overall, it was an amazing shift. I think the girls are beginning to trust me even just a little bit. They show it subtle ways. One extremely independent girl asked me to french braid her hair for her. A girl read six or seven raps to me that she had written herself. One girl who was trying to put on an act finally admitted the truth to me because “I acted like I really cared.” Another showed me a page of her diary that she said no one had ever seen before.
Those moments when they open their hearts to me just a tiny bit make the very long, sometimes stressful days very, very worth it. I close each evening by going to each of the girls rooms to say goodnight and pray with those who will let me. How can that not give me the energy to wake up the next morning for the next long day? It’s more than worth it. Praying with them also reminds me of why I am ultimately doing this job. It’s about more than their drug addictions. Much, much more. At the end of the day, it’s their hearts I’m concerned about.
I definitely had several moments this last week in which I wished little bits of me could be different for this job. I wished I weren’t white. I wished I personally knew what it was like to fight a substance addiction. I wished I had a louder personality. But every time I was reminded that I am who God made me to be. God didn’t want someone else to have this job. He chose me. All of me. Not just the parts that made me capable. There are no mistakes.
I know the same is true of the girls I work with. It’s not a mistake that some were born to parents who use. It’s not even a mistake that some have been abused. It’s a tragedy, an absolute tragedy. Those things break my heart, and I know God’s tears were filled with more sadness than any of ours. But they weren’t mistakes. God can use even those horrible, horrible things in their lives. I know that’s hard to believe now, but I believe that with all of my heart.
Please pray for my girls. They’re all such beautiful people. And please pray for me. My R.C. job begins with a bang on Sunday – I have 14 hours alone with the girls. Please pray for that time.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Break my heart for what breaks Yours.
I’m learning what real days off look like. And they’re beautiful. I was so busy in college that when I wasn’t in classes I was always in meetings or tutoring or writing or studying. And the little time that wasn’t spent stressing over one thing or another was devoted to the special people in my life. In other words, I might as well have been a fish … I forgot to breathe.
Dr. Lunde – one of the most amazing professors I had at Biola – once talked about the concept of “grace breaths.” He described them as the act of taking the time to slow down and breathe and be thankful to God for something as simple as that. In breathing, you could thank God for life, for love, for the grace He has given us. We should all be allowed to do that, even if only once a day for 30 seconds. I forget this often. But when I remember, my view on where I am radically changes.
My days off last week were filled with non-stop grace breaths. I thanked God and re-thanked Him and re-thanked Him. And I prayed to Him too about many, many things. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked all day – usually 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. with a few hours off in the early afternoon. Needless to say, my fish-like capacities kicked in. But my breaks on those days were focused around grace breaths. That crucial time I spent re-centering each day is what gave me the ability to go back on shift, full of energy and with the right motivation for what I was doing.
I worked 54 hours in just four days. That is what every week for this next year will look like. Holy crap. But you know what? I have the blessing of being able to go through full days with these girls. I’ll be waking them up in the mornings and saying goodnight to them and praying with them in their rooms before they (hopefully) go to sleep. In that sense, this job swallows the typical 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and becomes a lifestyle, not just a job.
It was an insightful, information-packed, tough, discouraging, enlightening, uplifting week. I shadowed the senior counselor Bree this week, which basically meant that I watched her to do my job. I spent a lot of time with the girls trying to get to a feel for them. I got asked a lot of questions. Have you done drugs? Are you a virgin? What’s your favorite type of alcohol? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you bi? Have you smoked pot?
I also had a lot of anger directed at me. These girls have all been hurt very deeply and as a result are very hardened. I’m a new person who they can’t trust, and they know I’m going to have a level of control over their lives and enforce rules that they already feel controlled by. They’re very clearly trying to feel me out. And a lot of this was done through testing me and very clearly expressing that they don’t want me there.
As Dr. Eastman from NOVA Academy – the charter high school in Santa Ana I volunteered in this last year that works with at-risk youth – told me, “Sometimes people go into those jobs expecting it to be like a slumber party with hair-braiding and heart-to-heart talks when it’s more like, “Who the hell are you?! Get the F out of my face!”
I believed him then, and if there had been any skeptics, they were proven wrong this last week. Getting to know these girls is going to take a long time, and I’m okay with that. And getting cussed out happens many, many times a day with this job, I’ve learned. But when you can guess what’s behind the cussing out, it’s really not that bad or personally hurtful. Rather, it breaks my heart. Their anger is loaded with all of the pain and crap that they have been through. And even though it’s directed at me or at another staff member, I know it has nothing to do with us. But it has everything to do with the things that made them turn toward drug addiction.
I found immense joy in the little things this week. Making a girl smile. A talk about a girl’s past love. A game of Apples to Apples. An apology. A girl deciding not to run. Giving out honest compliments freely. Learning how to smile and keep going when insulted. A hug. Many games of Skip-bo. Recognizing that polite niceties won’t work here – I need to mean every word I say. Attending NA (Narcotics Anonymous) and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings with the girls, and seeing lives that have changed and being able to pray for those still burdened. A training seminar that couldn’t have had better timing.
I’m working Saturday and then Monday through Wednesday this next week, and now it’s my turn to be shadowed by Bree. Although it’s a bit intimidating, I’m also excited to fully jump in and learn and learn and learn. I have an amazing supervisor (Alex) and senior counselor to learn from. I’m also ready to feel deeply. The lyrics “Break my heart for what breaks Yours” have come to my mind many times these past few days, particularly at an NA meeting I attended last night.
I never want this job to become about the surface of my interactions with these girls or about how our interactions/relationships make me feel. Instead, I want my interactions to be what they need and what can best help them with where they’re at. I think that a lot of that will involve selflessness and love and consistency on my part in the face of a lot of opposition that they put up. And I think that can best be done with a broken and filled heart.
I’m praying for God to give me the strength to be broken and then to fill me with His love.
Dr. Lunde – one of the most amazing professors I had at Biola – once talked about the concept of “grace breaths.” He described them as the act of taking the time to slow down and breathe and be thankful to God for something as simple as that. In breathing, you could thank God for life, for love, for the grace He has given us. We should all be allowed to do that, even if only once a day for 30 seconds. I forget this often. But when I remember, my view on where I am radically changes.
My days off last week were filled with non-stop grace breaths. I thanked God and re-thanked Him and re-thanked Him. And I prayed to Him too about many, many things. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked all day – usually 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. with a few hours off in the early afternoon. Needless to say, my fish-like capacities kicked in. But my breaks on those days were focused around grace breaths. That crucial time I spent re-centering each day is what gave me the ability to go back on shift, full of energy and with the right motivation for what I was doing.
I worked 54 hours in just four days. That is what every week for this next year will look like. Holy crap. But you know what? I have the blessing of being able to go through full days with these girls. I’ll be waking them up in the mornings and saying goodnight to them and praying with them in their rooms before they (hopefully) go to sleep. In that sense, this job swallows the typical 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and becomes a lifestyle, not just a job.
It was an insightful, information-packed, tough, discouraging, enlightening, uplifting week. I shadowed the senior counselor Bree this week, which basically meant that I watched her to do my job. I spent a lot of time with the girls trying to get to a feel for them. I got asked a lot of questions. Have you done drugs? Are you a virgin? What’s your favorite type of alcohol? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you bi? Have you smoked pot?
I also had a lot of anger directed at me. These girls have all been hurt very deeply and as a result are very hardened. I’m a new person who they can’t trust, and they know I’m going to have a level of control over their lives and enforce rules that they already feel controlled by. They’re very clearly trying to feel me out. And a lot of this was done through testing me and very clearly expressing that they don’t want me there.
As Dr. Eastman from NOVA Academy – the charter high school in Santa Ana I volunteered in this last year that works with at-risk youth – told me, “Sometimes people go into those jobs expecting it to be like a slumber party with hair-braiding and heart-to-heart talks when it’s more like, “Who the hell are you?! Get the F out of my face!”
I believed him then, and if there had been any skeptics, they were proven wrong this last week. Getting to know these girls is going to take a long time, and I’m okay with that. And getting cussed out happens many, many times a day with this job, I’ve learned. But when you can guess what’s behind the cussing out, it’s really not that bad or personally hurtful. Rather, it breaks my heart. Their anger is loaded with all of the pain and crap that they have been through. And even though it’s directed at me or at another staff member, I know it has nothing to do with us. But it has everything to do with the things that made them turn toward drug addiction.
I found immense joy in the little things this week. Making a girl smile. A talk about a girl’s past love. A game of Apples to Apples. An apology. A girl deciding not to run. Giving out honest compliments freely. Learning how to smile and keep going when insulted. A hug. Many games of Skip-bo. Recognizing that polite niceties won’t work here – I need to mean every word I say. Attending NA (Narcotics Anonymous) and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings with the girls, and seeing lives that have changed and being able to pray for those still burdened. A training seminar that couldn’t have had better timing.
I’m working Saturday and then Monday through Wednesday this next week, and now it’s my turn to be shadowed by Bree. Although it’s a bit intimidating, I’m also excited to fully jump in and learn and learn and learn. I have an amazing supervisor (Alex) and senior counselor to learn from. I’m also ready to feel deeply. The lyrics “Break my heart for what breaks Yours” have come to my mind many times these past few days, particularly at an NA meeting I attended last night.
I never want this job to become about the surface of my interactions with these girls or about how our interactions/relationships make me feel. Instead, I want my interactions to be what they need and what can best help them with where they’re at. I think that a lot of that will involve selflessness and love and consistency on my part in the face of a lot of opposition that they put up. And I think that can best be done with a broken and filled heart.
I’m praying for God to give me the strength to be broken and then to fill me with His love.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
A Start
Ephesians 3:17-20 has been my life passage for the last few years. It talks about being “rooted and grounded in love” and knowing the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge. This picture of love is so beautiful, so vast, and so wildly unknown. But I think that I will learn so much more about this type of love during this next year. It’s what I think I will need to truly help these girls.
I met them for the first time briefly yesterday and then spent more time with them today, and I already feel so strongly for them. I want so badly for them to grow, to overcome their struggles, and to discover wisdom and truth. The small victories today were so joyful, and their areas of pain or refusal definitely stung. The girls already have my heart.
I had orientation this morning, which consisted of paperwork and introductions to the program. I was then able to sit in on the weekly casing at my house, in which the residential staff meets with the caseworkers and addiction counselors to discuss each girl’s progress or hindrance. If any of the girls have petitioned to move up a phase in the program, that is also discussed and voted on, along with any overall issues. It was extremely interesting to sit in on, and I think I’m going to really look forward to that every week. We then had a house meeting with the girls, got dinner, and then just got to spend some time together. I got some basic training from the house supervisor, and this next week I will be shadowing the assistant supervisor.
I’m so looking forward to this time of learning. I already feel like I’m on information overload, and although I think this feeling will continue for months and months, I’m excited that I’ll be working a job in which I’ll always be learning more. There are just so many small things to take into consideration in this setting. For instance, the girls cannot handle any chemicals, including cleaners like windex. When their chores require cleaning surfaces, one of the staff members has to squirt and hold the container at all times. The girls cannot keep items like razors or scissors with them, so they have to check those items out from us. Every action of theirs can earn them positive or negative points, which affect their ability to move up a phase. There is a lot of protocol that I have to learn all about.
Although I did get opportunities to talk with the clients today, a lot of my day was spent watching the staff interact with them. I feel so blessed that I’m going to get to know these girls and spend day after day with them, supporting them and encouraging them to grow. I look forward to sharing in those small (and large) victories and also trying to ease their pain and refusals. I know that some days will be rough. But despite where any of these girls are coming from, it’s so clear to me that they have so much love to offer.
Goal for the Year: To find selfless, boundless love within myself and through my Savior and pour it on thick.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Easter with the Fam, Flight of the Conchords, Internship Ending
I have a couple weeks of updates, so here you go!Internship last week: I wrote stories about how the military chaplain scheduled a day of prayer concerning the high suicide rate among soldiers on the first day of Passover, which brought on criticism and accusations, especially because he's Southern Baptists, as well as a story on a woman who died after being poisoned years ago with coffee laced with arsenic by an upset member of the congregration.
Tuesday last week: After work Shanley and I met up at the Starbucks in Chinatown because we decided we needed to catch up on life. This Starbucks is so cool, by the way, and we drank our drinks (no coffee/tea for me -- Lent was still going on) on the charming second floor. I really like upstair coffee rooms =) Then we decided to find dinner somewhere around there. So we decided to ask a security guard where some good restaurants were. Our conversation went as follows:
Guard: Restaurants? What type of food?
Shanley: Ummm ... chick food?
Guard: Cheque food?!
Me: No, no -- chick food.
Guard: *laughing in disbelief* What the (heck) is CHICK food?!
*Me and Shanley look at each other*
Me: Ummm ... pretty food??
Needless to say, we ended up just searching on our own, and we went to the amazing Thai restaurant in Chinatown that I went to with Rachelle earlier in the year. We split the meal I had gotten before and pad thai, which was soooo good! We talked for a few hours about life and important issues, which was pretty darn refreshing. A really good evening.
Wednesday last week: My family got in! I went to Mom and Torie's hotel (Capital Hilton) after work and then we went to Bertucci's for dinner, and I got salmon and ate a bunch of Torie's tortellinis and split tiramisu for dessert-- yummy! Then I walked with them to the White House and all around it (it's really close to their hotel), and then my mom made me leave because it was getting late and she was nervous about me traveling home, haha.
Thursday last week: I was off of work, so I met up with my family (got to see Dad and Kelsie for the first time!) and did the monuments with them. Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Lincoln. They were exhausted from all the walking, which I've gotten quite used to, so we went and grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at a cute Italian place in Dupont. My spinach crepe was to die for! Then we went back to the hotel, and I accidentally fell asleep.
Then I stole Kelsie and took her back to my apartment to spend the night with me. Thursday night is Office night of course (duh!), but last week was weird and there were TWO episodes (one at 8, the other at 9), so we had to make a mad dash to the WJC classroom (to make matters worse, the big screen tv in the student lounge is broken), but we only missed a few minutes. Rachelle, Jason, Jeremy, Sarah, Phil, Coco, Kelsie and I watched the first Office episode, the first episode ever of Parks and Recreation (not that great ... going off of The Office much??) and then the second Office episode before Kelsie and I (like true Hamiltons) decided we needed a break from the tv. So we got her bed set up, which involved dragging a mattress down the stairs in Apartment 6 and up our stairs, and then talked for a few hours before hitting the hay.
Friday last week: My family and Rachelle and I went to The Old Siam for lunch! It's my favorite restaurant here, so of course I had to take my family there, and it was amazing as always! Then I took them to Georgetown and we walked around, were heartbroken by Baked and Wired's lack of cupcakes and finally settled for some eco-friendly fro yo place. Then my parents went to Arlington, and I took the exhausted girls back to the hotel and then to Fuddruckers. Then we went back to the hotel, and I accidentally fell asleep. Trend? Then my dad rode the metro with me and walked me back to my apartment because it was late, and he didn't want me walking by myself ... I see a pattern ... And then Rachelle and I stayed up really late talking.
Saturday: Rachelle and I slept in because we had stayed up so late talking. Then we went and met my family at the International Spy Museum!! Soooo cool! I especially liked the biographies of modern spies as well as information about women spies. And all the gadgets! And the WWII pidgeon made me laugh. Do you know pidgeons have won more medals of honor than any other animal?? Then we met up at the Air and Space Museum, but we were all kind of museumed out at that point, so we walked over to the Capital and people-watched for a long time.
Rachelle and Kelsie and I especially liked a young couple with a little toddler. The mom was taking pictures of the dad playing with the toddler, and the little girl kept grabbing the tulips on the lawn, and the dad kept stopping her to try and make her smell them for the pictures. We were like, "No! Let her touch the tulips! That's so cute!" And the mom agreed with us apparently because she eventually told her husband that. And then the little girl kept running around and the dad kind of followed her, and the whole scene was just so endearing ... I know, I'm such a girl, haha =)Then Rachelle and I went to Safeway to get groceries and to pick up potatoes for our mashed potato contribution to the WJC/ASP Sunday Easter dinner. I think we went to bed fairly early because the next morning ...
Sunday/EASTER!!: We got up early! Rachelle, Sarah, Andrea, Phil, John, Jason and I all met at 6:20 a.m. and caught a bus to the National Cathedral for the 8 a.m. service. We got there around 7:15, and got some pretty good seats. Jason, Rachelle and I explored for a little bit and laughed at how political the church was. Then we sat through the service, which was pretty much what I expected. Lots of ritualistic prayers, grand displays and incense, short sermon, more orthodox presentation of communion. But it was definitely an interesting experience. Then we wandered around the gorgeous building and grounds and even found the Darth Vader gargoyle.
Then I went to my family's hotel and fell asleep while they went to church ... with Obama and his family! Apparently he sat seven rows in front of them and they walked right next to him for communion! Maybe I should've done double church ... but then we got some food in their lobby 
and I said goodbye.
and I said goodbye.When I got back we had the massive Easter dinner (3 p.m.) with our program, and it was SO good! Everyone went way above the expectations -- John made a ham with pineapple and Phil made salmon! It was really cool getting to spend Easter with everyone this way. I think I'm going to miss the community a lot.
Then I had to do a bunch of homework, which wasn't so fun. And it just wasn't the greatest evening. But Easter day was really, really nice =)
Then I had to do a bunch of homework, which wasn't so fun. And it just wasn't the greatest evening. But Easter day was really, really nice =)
Monday: We had class and then ... FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS!! Chad and I saw them at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitutional Hall, and it was just fantastic. We picked up the tickets from will call, grabbed dinner at Cosi (kind of like Corner Bakery), and then went back and were surprised to find that our seats were pretty good! We weren't sure if there was going to be an opening act or anything, but who turned out to be the opening comedy act? Mel from the show -- She was hilarious! Neither of us had any clue she would be there. And then of course the guys were just great. It was really, really fun watching them live! They did a bunch of their older songs (My favorites were "I'm Not Crying," "Business Time," and "Hiphopopotamus") and a bunch from season 2, which were really funny. Such a great, hilarious concert!
Afterwards we made sure Chad got his Fotc shirt and then walked back. Only disappointment of the evening? That Bret wasn't wearing his owl jersey: We had agreed beforehand that if he was, Chad would take a dip in the reflecting pool .... they just have the best outfits =)
Tuesday: I got into work and checked my email only to find that Kevin had sent me an email the night before asking me to be at an event that day ... at 10 a.m. ... at the Iwo Jima memorial. Needless to say, I kicked into action. Adelle gave me money for a cab, and I jumped into one on the corner and chatted it up with the driver (he was a riot) all the way over there, meanwhile looking over the event info, and somehow got there 10 minutes early!
It was basically a protest. Two Sikh men who have been medically trained in the Army for years had been called to active duty for July but were also told they must shave their heads and remove their turbans to serve, which is majorly against their religion. They claimed they had been told by their recruiters this wouldn't be an issue and were beginning a lawsuit, asking the Army to allow Sikhs to serve because under this ordinance, none of them would be able to.
It was a pretty small gathering (and it was absolutely freezing!!), and I talked with the group advocate right away, listened to the talks, and then talked with the two men and their lawyer. They were really nice, and it was great not having to push my way through drones of people to talk to them, but they were pretty vague and avoided saying a lot of things for "legal reasons." After being there for about an hour, I left and took the metro back to the office and wrote up the brief.
After work I met Alyssa at Potbelly's because we had been talking earlier in the day and realized we hadn't had a good conversation in a while. So we divulged on life over sandwiches and milkshakes, and it was simply lovely. Then when we got back to the apartment, I was pretty much a bum for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday (yesterday): At my internship I mostly worked on setting up an interview with and then interviewing Robert Short, the man who wrote the bestseller "The Gospel According to Peanuts," like, 30 years ago for the "10 Minutes with ..." Q&A. His most recent book, which I talked to him about, is "The Parables of Dr. Seuss," in which he claims that Theodore Geisel's Christian theology permeates his books and actually parallels the New Testament. I'm personally a little skeptical on this kind of thing, but it was interesting talking to him. But he was definitely not as articulate as Al Meredith, which definitely made the process more difficult. Then Adelle and I went to the cafe next door and talked about my experience interning here ... I can't believe this is my last day ...
After work I called Erin and we finally reached each other. We talked for about 2 hours, and it was so nice to catch up. But then I began feeling really sick. It kind of put me out of commission for the rest of the evening. Oh, and it rained A LOT yesterday.
Thursday/Today: Chris and I left for work early so we could go to the National Press Club for the free breakfast that we never took advantage of. First of all, it's always so nice going there because the Press Club is seriously so classy, and then the breakfast was really good. I had yogurt and berries, pineapple, a cheese danish, a chocolate chip muffin and cranberry juice ... all for free! This is pretty much the college student's dream =) And then Alex showed up, so the three of us ate together and had some fun discussions.
At work I finished up the "10 Minutes with Robert Short" and then Kevin bought pizza since it was my and Chris' last day, and Kevin, Adelle, Claudia, Dave, Chris and I (Dan wasn't there) all had lunch together. It's kind of funny how the first time all of us in the office shared a meal and had full conversations that didn't center around work was on the last day. Our talks included Dave's suicidal dog, Claudia's cousin who is on MTV's newest reality show, being an only child, beer pong, Claudia's fear that her parents would love their dog more, and Dave's raccoon-scaring tactics. I'm bummed I didn't have more time to get to know everyone.
Thus concludes my internship with RNS. So bittersweet. I can't believe I won't be at this desk Tuesdays through Thursdays anymore ...
In other news, the morning prayer/Bible reading with Rachelle, Sarah and Jason has been really good. I wasn't able to make it today, but it's been absolutely wonderful beginning every day with God like that. Anyone want to do it with me next semester?? =)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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