Haas (center in black shirt) and fellow interns get a bird's eye view of Washington from the peak of the Capitol dome while accompanying Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (in front and to Haas's right, wearing white)
by Lyndsey Haas '12
I decided to kick off my post-high school life by working as an intern in the U.S. Capitol for one of my (Alaska's) senators. In the office, I helped to write the "senator's opinion statement" on a portion of her web page, gave tours of the capitol to visiting Alaskans, and ran errands around capitol hill (i.e. got lost in the maze of tunnels and corridors that compose "The Hill").
The internship, though, was designed to be more of an experience than to actually provide considerable assistance to the senator's office. I was allowed to shadow the senator for a day on two occasions, attended a party at the White House, toured the high-security legislative vault in the National Archives, sat on the senate floor, climbed to the top of the capitol dome, explored the "bowels" of the capitol from the senate office buildings to the Library of Congress... and was always excited to meet senators (Kerry, Lieberman, Biden, Cocker, Stevens, Hutchinson, Whitehouse...and many more) in the subway or elevators (when offered a ride in the Senator's Only elevators). I watched Jerry Lee Lewis sing "Great Balls of Fire" over the booms of Independence Day fireworks from the capitol terrace.
I had my share of disasters:
1. Getting lost with my tour group in the capitol crypt (then being shouted at by security when I led them up the wrong staircase)
2. Tripping to a grey-suited sprawl on my first shadow day, when I was desperate to make a good impression. I stumbled as I followed the senator around the corner, then lost my shoe... as well as my dignity.
3. (Twice!) breaking a shoe while out dancing, then walking home (the roundabout way: 7 miles) with one bare foot.
I nearly did not apply for the internship, but one of the things that influenced me to try was remembering the stories of friends I met at Davidson. When I visited campus last spring, I talked with Brian Aoyama, Katy Finley, and Alex Gregor about their experiences traveling over the previous summer. Although, Washington, D.C. is not China, Jordan, or India, it was an incredible experience. By the end, I had hundreds of pictures, each with a fond memory attached, and was even more excited (I would never have thought this possible!) to live a new life at Davidson.