Running Around In Circles

Unfortunately consistency has not been my strong suit concerning this blog. I had such great intentions when I began. Oh well.

Life has been progressing as normal. I go to class on Mondays. I go to work Tuesday - Friday. I am getting used to the swing of things. I am learning to really enjoy my internship. I am getting a lot of practice writing. I will have acquired quite the portfolio by the time I finish. I posted the links on my side bar so you can check out what I'm doing every once in awhile.

Aside from classwork and internship work I have also been running quite a bit. I really enjoy running and D.C. is full or runners! I have an hour commute to work and I have to be there by 8:30am so I have become a night runner. The city is really cool at night. The monuments are lit up and you don't have to dodge as many people. It's super fun. However, it's also quite the adventure to go at night.

Let me ease your concerns and reassure you that I do not go running at night by myself. I may be a small town girl, but I know better than that. Though I have encountered some crazy people on my runs. I've witnessed at least 2 fist fights, got yelled at by a crazy guy (who I'm pretty sure was stealing a chair) because we didn't announce ourselves as we ran around him. Actually, there are a lot of "yellers" out at night. There are instances when whistling occurs. That's my cue to run faster. And I get to dodge the occasional rat.

All of these quirks just adds to the excitement. Sure, I could run on a treadmill. There's a gym in the building that I live in. But I have a hard time running in place for so long. I don't like feeling like a gerbil. So, I go outside and get to experience a different side of the city.

My goal is to run a 5 mile race in Columbus on Thanksgiving. I am steadily heading towards that goal.

Tonight was a pretty calm night. I made it 4.5 miles and didn't get yelled at once! Now that's a good run.

A New Beginning

It's been quite a while since I last posted. I'm going to try to make a long story short. During the last few weeks when I wasn't blogging I was trying to get transferred to a different department. I spent two weeks running around trying to meet with people who seemed to continually have doctors appointments or were on vacation. By the end of last week I was finally able to say: Mission Accomplished.

I "re-started" my internship this past week in the Culture and Media Department at the Media Research Center. I am happy to announce that the first week went well. They seem to realize that I am new at this and are giving me adequate training and instruction.

My job, as far as I can tell from one week, consists of watching the news and looking for stories that are obviously liberally biased. Then I write an article about the story exposing the bias. It seems like finding the bias would be easy, but I've been surprised. Maybe I'm too forgiving or not critical enough but recognizing  liberal bias has been the hardest part. Once I find a story writing about it isn't too difficult. The hard part is finding the story.

This week I wrote 3 articles. The 2 articles are posted on the Culture and Media website and 1 is posted on the Business and Media website. That is pretty exciting. Overall things are looking  positive. I don't see myself doing this long term, but I think I can handle it for the next 10 weeks.

The Great Food Truck Hunt

I am admittedly a Food Network nerd. I would probably choose to watch the Food Network over most channels. Due to my avid viewing I have picked up on up-and-coming trends in the food world. Two  trends that are currently "hot" in the realm of food are cupcakes and food trucks. 

Everyone is familiar with our old, familiar friend the cupcake. And food trucks are pretty self explanatory. They are like street vendors on wheels. And for whatever reason they are gaining popularity. Because they are on wheels, you have to track down a food truck. Most food trucks prefer to announce their location for the day via twitter.

As I was out and about on Friday I saw a real-live food truck! It was exciting to finally see one, but they were selling lobster rolls for $15. Needless to say I did not stop for that food truck. However, I was inspired to embark on my own search for a food truck. I googled all of the food trucks in the DC area, followed them on twitter, and decided that on Saturday I was going to track one down. 

Saturday came, I got on twitter and then headed out to find my food truck. In my mind the search was like a scavenger hunt. I LOVE scavenger hunts! I found a food truck that was stationed at a town in Virginia near a metro stop. Once I got to the metro stop it was almost too easy to find the truck. I suppose they don't want to hide from customers if they are trying to sell a product, but it took away from the challenge a little bit. Anyway, I found a food truck selling cupcakes! What did I tell you? Cupcakes and food trucks are "hot". This food truck knows how to make cupcakes! 

Mission: Accomplished!

Patience Is A Virtue....

This week was a week in limbo. I mentioned a couple posts back that I wasn't really enjoying my internship. That continued to be the case, so I decided I would approach my boss about transferring to a different department. It seemed like a simple, smooth transition in my mind. However, it has not played out to be so simple, or smooth.

Last Friday I was going to talk to my boss, but that was Labor Day Weekend. He took an early start to the weekend and did not come in. I sent him an email with my concerns and I waited all weekend but did not hear from him.

On Tuesday I called him and we arranged a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the details of my internship. We came out of the meeting realizing we had both made incorrect assumptions. I assumed that journalism training would be part of the internship experience, and my boss assumed that I was experienced and had taken classes on journalism. While he did not think I was doing poorly, he agreed that I may be better suited in a different department.

I was really excited at this point. I had got exactly what I wanted.....almost. My boss wants to transfer me to the Culture and Media Department of the Media Research Center. However, before transferring I need to meet with the director of the Culture and Media Department. He was not available while I was there on Wednesday. My boss said he would set up the meeting for me. Thursday passed and I heard nothing. 3 o'clock Friday afternoon rolls around and I still know nothing. I decided to call mt boss only to find out that the person I need to meet with is (drum roll please) ON VACATION! He is expected to return Monday.

This week I have been running around trying to get all of this figured out, but all the while not working. I didn't work at all this week! That has been frustrating at times. Though is has also allowed me to refocus my goals and remind myself why I wanted to come here in the first place. It has been a week that required patience. Unfortunately patience is not my strong suit. The good news is that the week is over and hopefully I will be able to get everything taken care of on Monday!

Musings On The Week Gone By

The DC Semester is two-fold in that students are required to do an internship and take 6 credit hours worth of classes. My internship is still rocky, but I will update on that another day. Thursday was the first day that I had class. I will have class every Monday and Thursday. On Thursday our class was informed that aside from the "normal" class assignments we are required to journal about our experiences. Our journals are graded and due every Sunday. I'll be the first to admit that I think this is a dumb assignment. As the semester goes on and things get busier I am confident my dislike for this assignment will grow. However, despite my opposition, I was refreshing to journal about the past week. Perhaps what I dislike about journalism most is that it is void of personality. You report the "facts" and leave the rest out. I prefer personality, so I am posting a portion of my journaling that adequately sums up my feelings about this past week. Enjoy!

Life in DC is very different from what I am used too. The pace of life is much faster. The level of professionalism is much higher. The expectations for success are much greater. Though this is not my first time visiting DC, the reality of residing here is intimidating. I am no longer a tourist visiting the District for a few days. Instead I am an inhabitant. I will be living and working in this environment for the next few months. It is an exciting prospect, but intimidating nonetheless.

This first week is reminiscent of previous “first weeks” that I have had. I think of how new everything is, and at times how uncomfortable I am. How unattached I feel. Then I remember that anywhere I would now feel comfortable in began with these very same feelings. New. Unfamiliar. Far removed. All of these words can be ascribed to times past and present. The saving grace is that new always passes. Once that occurs, familiarity is not far behind. This is not to say that I am unhappy here. I am enjoying the experiences that I have had thus far. It is interesting to be in a brand new city, filled with new people, trying to forge my own way. However, I would be remiss to say that I do not long for familiarity. I miss home. I miss the effortless comfortableness that can be found there. I miss Cedarville. I miss living daily life with friends who I have come to regard as family.

Nevertheless, I know that there is much good that will come of this semester. I will build new relationships. I will become established in another location that I could go back to and find familiarity. I expect to learn a great deal about myself. I expect challenges that will test who I am and shape who I become. This week has not been easy. There have been many ups and downs, challenges and moments spent holding back tears. But I am excited. I am undoubtedly confident that the Lord has led me here. I do not see the whole picture now, but he does. I anticipate the journey and the destination as different pieces of this puzzle come together and the picture becomes clearer. 

First Day On The Job

Today was the first day of my internship at CNS News. I went into it with excitement, but left a bit discouraged. I showed up early like any good intern would. Once my boss finally came to meet me we filled out some paperwork and then he introduced me to everyone in the office. He then proceeded to show me to my desk and helped me log into my computer. After that he left and didn't return for quite sometime. So there I was sitting in front of this computer with no instruction. I decided to get on CNS' website and browse around. He finally came back to tell me I could go to lunch. In fact, he took me to lunch. I like free food. 

At lunch he was asking about issues that interest me and such. I proceeded to tell him that what I am really interested in is public relations. Unfortunately he told me that CNS does not offer a PR internship. I was quite disappointed and beginning to feel like I picked the wrong internship. I am not a political junkie and that seems to be a requirement in this environment. 

Let me cut in to tell you a bit about CNS News. CNS prides itself on reporting the stories that go unreported. They coined the phrase " media watchdog" and are out to expose the liberal media bias. CNS reporters writes stories that are posted on their website (cnsnews.com) and are available to be picked up by other news outlets. So if I can keep up with this crowd, then eventually my stories should be showing up on the internet somewhere. Anyway, that is CNS in a nutshell. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

After lunch I did the same thing; "familiarized myself with the website". In fact, I familiarized myself until 5:30pm when I went to find my boss to make sure I was allowed to leave. I think it is safe to say that the day did not go as well as I had planned. I felt pretty well ignored all day and it looks like I'm not going to get to do much of what I really wanted to learn about (public relations). I left with soar feet and a bruised sense of confidence, but it was just the first day. I figure it has to get better from here. So I will show up tomorrow morning expecting the best. Thankfully the Lord's mercies are new every morning. Also, I was walking by the Capitol tonight and a band was playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". That's got to be a good sign, right?  ;)

And So It Begins...

Washington Monument

After being in the District for a few days it is fair to say that my semester has begun. Mom and I drove down on Thursday. We played "tourists" for a couple of days. Then I moved in on Saturday. The past couple of days have been busy to say the least. It seems like I have gotten to see a decent amount of DC. I am figuring out the metro quite successfully. I have yet to get on a train in the wrong direction. I am realizing more and more how glad I am that this is not my first time in DC. Having visited here before provides a tiny bit of familiarity, and I am thankful for that.

Today I traveled to Alexandria VA in search of the Media Research Center. I will officially start my internship tomorrow. It looks like I'll have about an hour commute each way. That detail is a bit disconcerting, but overall I am excited. I am certainly nervous as well. I have a very vague idea of what I will be doing and many questions. I'm hoping to get all of my questions answered tomorrow. I expect tomorrow to be an exciting day, but equally exhausting. An internship is a foreign concept to me, especially a DC internship! I know it's going to be tough, but it's what I signed up for. I wish that I could write more about it, but I won't know until tomorrow. So in the mean time enjoy a few of the sights that I have seen, and don't forget to be praying for me!

Inside the Rotunda of the Capitol Building

Typical tourist picture

Panda at the National Zoo