A Walk on The Hill: 2015

Monday, February 23, 2015

Sight-Seeing Around The Capitol

So I can't leave out all of the fun I've had so far!

The first few posts you saw and read that I got to see the Speaker's Balcony, and go onto the House Floor! That was really neat, and felt pretty natural. ;)

I've been to quite a few of the Smithsonian Museums and a lot of little stores, restaurants, markets, etc. There is so much to do!

The most fun things I have been to so far was the Crime and Punishment Museum over near Chinatown. For those of you who knew my granddad, he loved crimes and the people who solved them. His interest in solving cases and law enforcement definitely passed down to me!

Also Ted's Bulletin has homemade pop-tarts! Yes, homemade pop-tarts. If ever have one, your life will be changed!

Here are a few pictures of some of my adventures...I'll put up some more posts soon.

Make-shift old Western jail at the meuseum

Somehow my name came from this guy

Bonnie and Clyde's Ford

Katie (a fellow Tech intern) in the plank of shame

A warm and beautiful Sunday on the balcony!

This squirrel felt like modeling!

Care package from Mimi!

Homemade pop-tarts!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The New "Norm" pt. 2

The Office

Working for Congressman Conaway has been an incredible experience. If more members of congress were like Mr. Conaway, we would be much better off! Everyone in the office works very hard, it is easy to see how much they care for the Congressman and the country. On top of that they have all been very patient with our intern learning curves!

The interns in the office are Tim Lopez (an Australian), Nathan Pierre (from Angelo State University/Haiti), and me (the domestic intern)!

A lot of being an intern is answering phone calls, taking messages, running mail to other offices, scheduling and giving tours, etc. Anyone who knows me, knows I love dealing with people! I love challenging people, especially the constituents who have had their whole day ruined by something they read or heard on the news. Most of the time they misunderstood a story, and I can find the truth and relieve them of their concerns or find someone else who can.

Most constituents do not realize that the interns are occasionally from the district, or close to the area. I love to find where the callers are from, and mention something I like, or have been to, in their town. They love knowing that the person on the other side of the phone can relate to them!

Past constituent work, I've been able to use things I learned in class at Tech to help the office. This week we were asked to make a "heat map" also called a choropleth map of the 11th Congressional District of Texas. I was able to use my knowledge from Marty Middleton's class (Computers in Ag II) to make one!..... for the Agricultural and Applied Economics people reading this that class really is useful! That was a really fun project to work with and it felt rewarding to be able to produce something useful.

Our boss, Chase, has been a great teacher! He has encouraged us to go to committee hearings and research topics that mean a lot to us. We have a project to work on. The assignment is to research a bill over a topic and present the significance of the bill to Mr. Conaway and the rest of the office. I chose the bill to prevent the EPA from finalizing the rule that would redefine the Waters of the United States. It's been a very interesting topic to see the need for clarity in the definition, but also the overreach by the EPA to try to redefine it themselves and not Congress.

This past week Chase took us down to the House floor, that was a cool opportunity to see where the biggest decisions in this nation take place! Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed. Although I don't have pictures of that, here are some pictures of the interns and Chase...

Nathan loves selfies, Chase fell victim to his shenanigans

Tim loves Sour Cream and Onion chips, I guess they don't have them in Australia

This was Tim, Nathan, and I with the acting Australian Ambassador

The New "Norm" pt.1

Well, the newness has officially worn off. Unlike some expectations, it's actually been relatively easy and fun! I'll admit it's been pretty tough being away from friends, family, and Katherine back at home. Technology makes it much easier to communicate with loved ones, so I'm thankful for that! It's hard to believe how fast this is going! We are almost halfway through February!

Moving on....I promised to tell you about the Tech House and the office, I try to stick to my word so I'll start with that. Sorry for the delay!

The Tech House

Now, for the former interns reading this blog, I'm sure you will look to this as a source of free entertainment resembling something close to "The Real World" in a "Tech House Edition". Well look no further....just kidding we've been a pretty boring group.

The 3rd floor (where I live) is full of 5 guys and 6 girls. The 1st floor has 2 guys, 6 girls, and our House Mom. Unfortunately, unless the 1st floor or 3rd floor communicate through our texting app, we don't really see each other which make it harder to hang out together. We still have a family lunch every Sunday night, so that's been great!

Now we've had a few tough days/nights with adjusting to work and missing home, but we've done a good job of backing up to give each other space and also being there for one another when someone is feeling down. We pretty much hang out together all the time, sometimes we'll branch off and form mini-groups to go sightsee. We really lucked out with a great group! It has been nice, the group has been so willing to go to the store with one another, go out to eat/sightsee/workout/church together. We've really done a great job of struggling through the adjustment phase together!

Lisa Chesher is one of the CASNR (College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources) interns just like myself. On occasion, we have become the "go-to's". When someone has had a bad day, or needs to learn how to iron, or something has broken we've been "called in". Luckily it fits our personalities quite well and we're happy to help, even though most of the time we're equally clueless. Well, I'll speak for myself there, Lisa has a master's degree.

We have had Salsa dancing lessons in our living room, movie nights, iTunes jamming sessions, singing (mostly Nathan and I and Julie (Megan's alternative personality), and family dinner nights in the house. So as you can tell, things stay pretty entertaining! We also got a new TV recently, so netflixing is the new bonding tool. :)

Here are some pictures of our house experiences....

Salsa Lessons from Nate

Dinner at Hill country Barbecue after networking

The nice weather out on the balcony of the Tech House

Family outing at Bucca Di Beppo

Homemade Dinner

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Welcome to Washington!

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! I know a lot of people have been waiting for this, so I finally am getting this blog started!

For those of you who I haven't met, my name is Barclay White. I was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. I graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics in December of 2014 and shortly after started an internship in Washington, D.C.

Coming into college I battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma it has been nearly four years since my diagnosis and I have been cleared since October 2011. Having cancer really shaped me into the person I am today. I am compassionate, fun-loving, light hearted, and see everything through eyes of faith. I believe everything has a purpose and it all works into God's plan for our lives. I'm excited to see how God uses this internship in His plan for me!

Getting the Internship

During my freshmen year at Texas Tech I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. with Chancellor Kent Hance and President Guy Bailey with President's Select. It was during March of 2012. I had the opportunity to tour Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the White House. I was able to see Tech's Congressional Internship Programs run through the President's Office and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). Ever since then I knew I wanted to do the internship before I was officially done with college.

Last fall I applied and interviewed with the CASNR Internship Program. Our program is sponsored by many commodity groups who share an agricultural background and a deep understanding of the importance of an experience like this. The interview process happens in two parts: the first part is a group of our teachers, professors, and advisors; the second is representatives from the commodity groups who make this internship possible year-round. Many students applied and only four were selected through the CASNR program. Needless to say, I feel incredibly lucky I was chosen to participate in this internship!

My Experience

So far I have been in Washington, D.C. for about a week and a half. The time here is flying by, and there is so much to see and do! I am interning in the district office of Congressman Mike Conaway who represents the 11th Congressional District of Texas. The cities from there most people recognize are Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Brady, Brownwood, and Llano. I wish everyone of you had a chance to meet Mr. Conaway and his wife Suzanne. You could not find a more humble and sincere representative. Even the lady who works the elevators for the representatives in the Capitol gushes about his kindness and sincerity.

Mr. Conaway was recently selected to be the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, it is a huge honor that West Texas last saw under Congressman Larry Combest. Texas Tech has alumni all over the Hill, and many reside as an Ag committee staffer or in Mr. Conaway's district office. There are a few Aggies, Longhorns, and Cowboys (OSU) so I'm surrounded by many great people!

The Tech House has been a great experience so far! The group of students I'm with are all very kind, fun, and easy going. We do a good job of taking care of one another, I've kind of become the Tech House Dad.It's interesting, although D.C. and Lubbock are vastly different I have not felt lost, scared, out of place, or homesick......yet. It's nice having all the other students here because we have pretty much formed a family.

We've had to do a few housekeeping jobs like busting up a broken boxspring to get it in the dumpster, fix a few lights, and use some "Southern engineering" on the dryer; other than those things the place is very nice! It takes me about 90 seconds to get from the Tech House door to the SE door of the Cannon Office Building, from there I drop down to the tunnels to access the Rayburn Office Building, where my office is.

The tunnel system is fantastic! I can go in any House or Senate Office Building and take the tunnels to the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, or the Supreme Court. It's literally like it's own city. There are even subways that will make the trek a little faster. The security around the Capitol is pretty neat! After the threat this week I'm sure most of you heard about, security beefed up some, but I don't think anyone minds the additional hassle for their own safety.

I'll post some pictures and post again later today or tomorrow about actually working on the Hill and the other students in the Tech House!