Andrew's Semester in Washington

Andrew, Joe & Anna
One of the highlights for Anna over the past three months was getting the opportunity to see more of cousin Andrew.  Andrew, who is finishing his junior year of college, was able to spend the spring semester in Washington, DC where he served as an intern at the U.S. Department of Education in the Congressional Affairs office.

After watching Andrew's experiences, Joe & Theresa concluded  a lot has changed since they were in college....starting with housing.  First, they expected he would have some small dorm room at a local university.  Instead, he was housed in a spacious luxury high rise apartment complex within walking distance of everything he needed.  Every week, the University arranged visits with local alumni, including Senator Bob Casey and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  On his last day, Andrew got to meet Chris Mathews and watch a taping of Hardball.  In between, he got some great experience attending Congressional hearing and various think tank meetings on education topics.  These are not the experiences we had.

He also got to enjoy some of the "only in Washington" things.  It took him a couple of weeks to actually work a full week at this internship due to the office being closed for "snow days" (something that does not happen in Massachusetts).  When he arrived, part of the government was still shutdown so some of his colleagues had to find different internships (he was lucky that Education was open).  He got to experience firsthand the regulation process as part of his internship (I think he may have eliminated any desire to go to law school from this experience).  He got to see the government bureaucracy firsthand....and he also got to experience a lot of dedicated people who are passionate about their work.  He got to try lots of interesting food thanks to the international dining options in DC.  He got to attend a Wizards game (not impressed) and a Nationals game.  He also got to experience the beauty of the cherry blossoms......and the tourists (many now on scooters) that come with them.

Andrew was often able to stop out every week or two for Sunday dinner and fill us in on his adventures.  Anna was excited to have him shoot hoops or play Guitar Hero with her.  Sadly for us, he returned home over the weekend to finish his thesis and plan for the summer.  It was great to have him here.  We look forward to his return to Washington!

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