Mabern Barnes
E- Portfolio for the Experiential Learning Scholars Program
Knowledge from Experience
I spent an amazing seven weeks in Washington, D.C. While there, I worked on Capitol Hill with a United States Congressman. I wrote many letters to constituents, gave tours of the U.S. Capitol, and corresponded with legislators and staff. This was a rewarding experience that, through experience, helped build my knowledge of my field.
My Capitol Hill Internship in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C is one of the most important cities in the world. My time there was full of learning, working, meeting, and an abundance of walking. I worked in the office of Congressman Bart Gordon in the Rayburn House Office Building on the north side of the Capitol building. My experiences were rewarding and worthwhile, but not everything came as expected.
I applied for an internship in Congressman Gordon’s office not exactly knowing for what I was applying. I have a friend that currently works in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, who was an English major at MTSU, interned in D.C., and received a job there upon graduation. She recommended I apply because she knows I am interested in politics and writing. I will attend law school after graduation and eventually hope to defend and uphold the laws that are passed in Washington D.C. An internship in Congressman Gordon’s office seemed like a perfect path.
I began my time on “The Hill,” as I came to know it, on June 28, 2007. I settled into the tiny one bedroom apartment, which I would be sharing with a friend for the next six weeks, and immediately left to explore the area. I was fourteen hours from home and knew no one. I lived in Georgetown, reasonably close to American University and Georgetown University, so I knew there would be no dull moments. I was less than a mile from the Potomac. The river was beautiful at night. One of my favorite memories in Washington, D.C. was the Fourth of July because I listened to a full orchestra play patriotic music on the east front step of the United States Capitol and watched fireworks explode over the Washington Monument for almost an hour. It was a moving experience that I will never forget.
I started work on July 2, 2007. I met Congressman Gordon and discussed current events, Middle Tennessee State University classes and athletics, politics, and common friends. Congressman Gordon is a Middle Tennessee State University alumnus and was interested in everything that was happening on campus. After meeting the Congressman, I took my first tour of the Capitol and began learning facts to use when I gave tours of the Capitol to others. After my personal tour, my intern coordinator sent me to three classes where I learned more about what I would be working with for the next six weeks.
I took three classes while in D.C. The first class was on Intranet Quorum, a computer software program that the House of Representatives uses to organize constituent correspondence. This class was short and boring. There were only two other people in my class, and neither was an intern. They were both full time staff that needed the class to advance in their jobs. The class was not very helpful, and I eventually taught myself how to navigate the program. This program was very useful because it automatically saved every letter I wrote under the constituent’s name who was to receive the letter. It also helped produce mass form letters about major issues that many constituents were concerned with such as cigarette tax.
My second class for this internship was on the history of the United States Capitol. I was expected to guide tours for constituents who were visiting our nation’s Capitol building. I was really only visiting myself, so I found this odd. I was given one tour by my internship coordinator, sent to a three-hour class, and sent to the Capitol alone in charge of fifteen people in one of the most important buildings in our country. This was an intimidating experience, but it really helped me advance in my public speaking and interpersonal communication skills. I began to realize I spoke too fast for most people to understand, especially when I became anxious. I also realized that I had a profound Southern accent; constituents from Tennessee understood me perfectly. However, I often led tours for people from other states and even tours for people from other countries. I learned that I must speak slower and enunciate better in order to be understood. Many communications professors had pointed this out before, but when I realized I could not be understood by others without perfecting my pace and pronunciation, it actually made me change. My favorite aspect of giving tours was the relationships I made with the people whom I led. I learned to converse with people with whom I had little in common, and I enjoyed learning about others and their families and cultures.
My favorite and final class covered the Capitol Research Service, which is offered through the Library of Congress. The Capitol Research Service issues library cards to all interns and explain the research tools at the disposal of interns, congressional committees, congressional staff, and congressional representatives. I learned that the Library of Congress is the national library and the largest library in the world. The Library has digitally and traditionally catalogued 20,532,692 books. Maybe it is because I am an English major, but this building fascinated me. I learned that congressional representatives and their staff request research at the Library for any reason. They have a telephone number to call, and a librarian answers and takes their request. They give a time in which they need the information and the method by which they would prefer to receive the research. The librarian finds exactly what is needed and forwards it to the office. Only congressional representatives and senators can check books and articles out of the Library, but others can apply for a library card and use the reading rooms inside the Library. Once I saw the main reading room, I wondered why anyone would want to check a book out at all. The main reading room is magnificent with a large gold dome and marble statues of literary and democratic heroes towering in the dome 150 feet above one’s head.
After these three detailed and intense classes, I thought I was ready for work. I left the Library of Congress and tried to find my office through a series of underground tunnels that connects all buildings of the Capitol complex. I became lost quickly. After receiving directions from many security officers and Capitol staff, I found my office thirty-five minutes later. This was only the first of many unexpected situations.
There was a fellow intern in the office on my first day of work, but she left the second day. I was alone to decipher the most complicated phone system I had ever seen, to sort piles of mail delivered three times a day, to give tours of the Capitol building alone after having been in it only once myself, and to begin a complicated process of letter writing known as constituent correspondence. My intern coordinator was helpful, and I only had to rewrite my first letter four times. I started to believe I had no clue what was going on when I finally received the “check and initials,” which meant my letter was passed to Congressman Gordon for approval. I do not believe that the completion of a sixteen-page term paper for a college class has given me such a feeling of accomplishment. I was finally applying my writing skills to a real life situation, and I finally understood why I was spending unknown amounts of money and time on an education.
My worst experience with letter writing was my first letter. I had trouble getting started and ending the letter. It was addressing a young girl who had written on behalf of her father. The father was incarcerated currently awaiting trial for a crime the family claimed he did not commit. The young girl’s mother had died two years before the letter, and now the young girl was living with her grandparents who would not let her visit her father. The young girl wanted the Congressman to help her by writing a letter to the court for her father. However, there is an ethics rule that says a congressional representative cannot interfere with ongoing court proceedings. I was forced to write that Congressman Gordon could do nothing to help her but wished her well in her pursuits. I thought this was generic, but there is a rule that will not let the office do anything further. I had to learn to leave personal feeling out of the letters because I was, after all, writing on behalf of the Congressman, not on my own behalf. My personal feelings were not the only problems with the letter. I had used too many adjectives and adverbs, and the letter was too flowery. Letters to constituents have to be direct, concise, and easily understood. I re-wrote the letter four times before it was approved. Once approved by the Congressman, I was able to send the letter. Thought the letter did not say what I personally wanted it to say, seeing my initials beside Congressman Gordon’s on the bottom of the letter gave me an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I wrote a letter that was approved by a United States Congressman and sent to a constituent with a real problem.
Letter- writing became easier after the first letter. It was almost like a form I had to fill. I used the same opening and closing for every letter because it made the process faster. Then I only had to fill the body of the letter with my research and the opinions of the Congressman. It almost became a routine that I came close to understanding by the time I left.
I wrote many letters on our troops in Iraq. Constituents called with a variety of opinions and remarks, and each letter was tailored to respond correctly to their concerns. I wrote general letters to constituents who called with pro or con opinions of the war in general. I also wrote letters to parents and families of the soldiers in Iraq who called in opposition to term extensions and leave reductions. I responded to mass emails sent about the statistics on soldiers’ injuries and deaths in Iraq. These were difficult letters to write because I tended to let my emotions take control. However, I learned to write what I needed to write and proofread to eliminate emotion. It was a difficult learning experience but one that was worthwhile.
I wrote the majority of my letters on veteran’s affairs. I addressed constituent concerns with veteran’s hospitals, benefits, and healthcare. Many constituents were concerned with funding for veteran’s hospitals. They wanted to urge the Congressman to support the funding of all veteran’s programs. These were easy letters to write because Congressman Gordon supports most bills that increase benefits for our veterans.
My favorite letter was a letter to a woman who was concerned about disability access in Arlington National Cemetery. The woman had visited Arlington National Cemetery with a group of disable veterans, and she was concerned that the group could not reach the top sections of the Cemetery because there were no wheel chairs were available and there were no paths for the wheel chairs. Her argument was that these veterans had fought with many of the people buried in Arlington, and she did not understand why the cemetery was not handicap accessible. This letter required much research on the laws governing disability access and the access that was actually available at Arlington. I made calls to the Library of Congress and to the Committee on Veterans Affairs. I also called, emailed, and faxed the office of the Director of Arlington National Cemetery. I discovered there were wheelchairs available but there were usually not enough to accommodate all visitors during the summer months. I also learned that there are certain areas in Arlington that do not have ramps; however, there are bus tours that drive to these areas. It amazed how much went into this one letter.
One of my favorite parts of writing letters was the research. The research for most letters introduced the opportunity to contact directors of major programs, congressional offices, and congressional committees. They were all friendly and overly willing to help me find the information I needed. The directors of these programs along with many congressional representatives also planned briefings and conferences for interns.
Another great opportunity for interns in Washington, D.C. is the briefings and conferences one is able to attend while on the hill. I attended a two hall meeting “Making a Difference through Public Service” at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. House Majority Leader United States Representative Steny H. Hoyer and Cokie Roberts, ABC News and NPR News anchor, spoke about the importance of using one’s personal talents and gifts for the betterment of people through public service. There was also a federal career fair setup in the Air and Space Museum after the meeting. I met with representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Justice, and the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Each group has positions for writers, editors, and lawyers, all of which are my interests. I have cards of recruiters from each and can contact any of them by email.
I also attended a briefing on life in the Middle East. It was a briefing aimed towards interns and was informative. The president of a Middle Eastern university was my favorite speaker at the briefing. He spoke on how similar American students were to students in the Middle East. Students in both places are trying to better themselves, to become more than the generation before them, and to enjoy furthering their education. In addition, a Congressman of Middle Eastern origin spoke at the briefing. She spoke on the difficulty of becoming an American citizen but the rewards after doing so. I enjoyed this briefing because it was like nothing I had studied.
Verizon provided a buffet and briefing on the communications within our country and especially within the capitol. I did not know that Verizon provided communication paths other than cellular services. Verizon is the preferred communication in Washington D.C., and they have many lobbyists that work to inform and push their causes. I attended this briefing with a fellow intern. When I returned to the office, I wrote a memo to the office informing them of Verizon’s arguments for current legislation. I did not fully understand the importance of the memo until Congressman Gordon himself came to speak with me before going to vote on a communications bill. The briefings were interesting and kept me busy, but my favorite things about being and intern in Washington D.C. were the people in my office, the letters I wrote, and the places I had the opportunity to visit.
The people I worked with in Congressman Gordon’s office were great. They were from all over the country, and each had a different educational and cultural background. Congressman Gordon was extremely friendly and not at all as I had pictured a congressional representative. He was willing to talk to interns in any spare moment he had. One of my favorite times with him was during a photo session with a fifth grade class. He explained to them that I was an intern and currently in college, and he remembered that I was an English major. He asked me if I had any advice to them. I told them one thing I had learned was that reading was the key to many doors. I really enjoy using my own experiences to help others, and this was a great moment for me. My intern coordinator was from California, but both of her parents were Indian. She taught me about her culture and took me to dinner in culturally different areas of D.C. She really helped me through the difficult things I was asked to do in the office. I still stay in contact with her now because we became such good friends. I also enjoyed working with the Chief of Staff. She had years of experience on the Hill. She began by working on a campaign when she was twenty years old. She said she could not imagine doing anything else after that first campaign because it had opened her eyes to a new world. She had been on Capitol Hill over thirty years. I worked with two other interns that were interning through a high school program. I enjoyed working with them because they were so interested in everything. Both were entering their senior year in high school. One was from California, and the other was from Washington, D.C. Both went to private schools, and we really had nothing in common. However, this made for the most interesting conversations because we talked constantly during our hours writing letters and sorting mail together.
The letters I wrote are now in a portfolio that I made on the last day of my internship. My intern coordinator knew how proud I was of the work I had done on the letters, and she surprised me with a black, leather binder with a gold foil House of Representatives seal on the front. I now keep this in my bookshelf at home because I know exactly how much work went into that binder and how much I learned through the process. The letters also remind me of the time I spent in D.C. discovering the city.
While in Washington, D.C., I took full advantage of my surroundings. Almost every afternoon after work and every weekend, I would ride the Metro Bus and Train System to fascinating places in D.C. I saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, World War I Memorial, World War II Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and White House. I also toured the Capitol many times and visited both the House and Senate chambers. I saw every Smithsonian Museum, the National Archives, and Arlington National Cemetery. I also traveled to Baltimore. Now, as I look back on all of the opportunities that this internship provided, it is hard to believe. I spent seven weeks in one of the most powerful cities in the world. I believe I took full advantage of my surroundings because I would not change a thing about my stay in Washington D.C.
There was not a part to my internship that I would consider the worst. There were days that I did not want to get up and go to work, but I once I was there I enjoyed it. No two days are the same. There are always new groups of people, new briefings, and new constituent callers. Not everyone is nice and understanding, but many are. I learned to look past many things I never would have before, and I truly enjoyed everyday there.
I really enjoyed my time in Washington, D.C. It was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will never regret. However, I will not be going back to stay for an extended period again. The glamour and fame most people associate with politicians just is not true on a day-to-day basis. There is a constant schedule to be met and it leaves little time for luxuries. There is never down time or even time for a lunch break without a purpose. There are fancy receptions and meetings with famous stars, but for the most part, these politicians eat sack lunches running from a vote on the House floor in the Capitol to a meeting in their office in the Rayburn House Office Building. This was an eye-opening experience. I still want to attend law school, but if I go into politics, it will be at the state level. The constituents are just names and numbers at the federal level. I believe there would be a more personal connection with the people at the state level and a greater sense of responsibility to the people because one would be in constant contact with them. My writing has improved because of this internship. It did not change the way I write analytical papers, but it changed how I write addressing the general public. I think I will always look back at the things I learned in D.C. and use these experiences to further my education and enhance my life.
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