Michael’s Blog

So Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ says that there’s no place like home.  If by “home” she meant Storrs.  I’d have to agree with her.  Last week I made a trip back up to good ole’ UCONN campus and got to see some all of my old buddies.

Usually when I’m around my friends I’m not much of a talker.  I like to listen. Because so many of the people I know are involved in amazing and interesting programs, usually I can sit around all day and just listen to them talk.  But not this time.  This time around it was me going on and on about anything and everything I could think of.  Stories I didn’t even realize I knew came spilling out over dining hall food that I had missed so much.

Being in my old dorm room again brought back some wonderful memories and I spent most of the day and a half I was up there reliving every story I could think of from my time in the nations capitol. I told them about working in Congress, about the people I lived with, about the people that lived in DC.  I told them about walking around the Capitol at night and about seeing the first black president get inaugurated. 

I wasn’t planning on sleeping over when I first got there, but it was so late when I finished saying hi to everyone that I had no choice but to crash on the couch in my old dorm room. I went to bed that night tired but extraordinarily happy.  Dorothy was right… There is no place like Storrs.

They day that I thought would never come, the day I hoped would never come, is finally here.  Move out day.  Closing the book on yet another chapter of my life, hopefully I can take this semester’s worth of experiences and education and apply it to my hopefully many future adventures.

I’m gonna miss this darn city. I’ve had a lot of good times.  Going to see the Wizards and the Nat’s play, seeing the museums and the statues, and interning on the hill; these were all things that made my DC experience better than any semester I’ve had before. It’s definitely going to take some adjusting to get used to home again after being spoiled so much this semester. 

Speaking of spoiled…. Since this is the last day I’m here and all, me few remaining housemates and I had to clean out the kitchen and the refrigerator.  Gross. We found milk that expired about two months ago, rotten eggs, and moldy onions…. It was terrifying.  But some good did come out of it.  A lot of us had food that we had never opened so we gathered it all up and took it to a local food bank.  It felt nice being able to give back to the community especially since we had all come to feel that DC was our home if only for a short time.

Now just because this is the end of my semester doesn’t mean that I’m finished writing.  They’ve got a good two weeks left up there at Storrs so I’m gonna keep you updated on any adventures I have over the next couple of weeks.  Plus, look for the bonus DC blogpost focusing on my internship for Representative Jim Himes.  I’m gonna give you an in-depth look into life as a DC intern.  Coming soon!

So, the rest of the interns and I went to a Nationals game the other day.  It was awesome.  I haven’t been to a baseball game in longer than I can remember and it was a beautiful day to visit a ball park.  The Nationals were playing the Marlins and despite their Nationals struggles as of late, the DC fans were numerous and supportive. 

Baseball is an interesting sport for me because it’s seems to be an event which you can stop paying attention for long periods of time and not really miss much.  But at the same time if you don’t pay attention all of the time you run the risk of getting hit with a baseball… so there is an incentive to paying attention. 

The first six innings or so were pretty good, but my favorite part had to be when the seventh inning stretch came around and everyone sang “Take me out to the Ball Game!”  It was awesome seeing thousand of people singing a song we all learned and loved during our childhood. It was a refreshing and indescribable event. 

Unfortunately the Nats lost in extra innings by one run.  After the game there were fireworks and the ballpark was so close to my home and the weather was nice enough that we were all able to walk home afterwards.  All in all a wonderful night. 

Recently I’ve been giving a lot of consideration to my future.  After I graduate there’s a huge possibility that I will need a job to survive.  I thought about going straight into graduate school, but the more I think about it the more I feel that a year or two off in “the real world” might do me some good. 

One option I’m looking into is Teach For America.  What’s that you say?  Never heard of it?  Let me educate you….

“Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates and professionals of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.”

Any questions?

So as luck would have it, this semester the other UCONN interns and I have had the pleasure of meeting up with a number of UCONN alums.  One of those alums, Meghan Dyer, just so happens to be a current Teach for America teacher right here in DC at Cleveland Elementary.  We spoke for a while about the program and the commitment in general and she offered to let me come in for a half day and monitor her classroom.

I was a little nervous at first when I walked and met the kids, fifth grade was a pretty scary year for me and these kids looked a lot bigger than I remember being when I was that age.  But after a few of them asked me some pretty good questions like “what was my favorite subject in fifth grade” and “what were my majors in college” I started to get pretty comfortably.

I played a math game called factor captor with Nykera, Daniel and Vincent (all of them were much better at multiplying than I was…) and got read a couple of great books by a young man named Alfredo.  Overall the entire experience was amazing and something I could see myself doing for more than just two years…

The only weird part? Being called Mr. Mitchell.  Mr. Mitchell?  Really?  But the way things are going right now, I might just have to get used to that.

I’m on break! Ladies and gentleman I’m taking the week off. No phones, no letters, no nothing. This week, I’m putting on my walking shoes and hitting the streets of DC.  I haven’t been out and about as much as I like so I plan to hit up as many monuments and museums as possible. 

I love the metro

I’ve tried to map out my trip a little bit and I’m happy that I’ll have to take the metro around a lot. For all of you who have never taken the DC metro I encourage you to do so.  It’s clean, it’s safe, and unlike a lot of other metro systems it easy to navigate. 

The trains always come on time and with the exception of the morning and evening work rushes, they’re rarely crowded.  The biggest danger is falling asleep and missing your stop (guilty). I’m headed out now to see the sites…. I’ll blog soon about my adventures this week.   

Ok, so there’s a big elite 8 game on in a couple of hours.  I’ve got a lot riding on this game.  I’m second in my bracket pool and if we win I’m pretty sure that I’ll be in first.  Also I made a small bet with one of my housemates who happens to be a Mizzou student.  There’s this nice little burrito shop down the street and the loser has to buy the winner a burrito.

And let me tell you, these burritos are WORTH IT. They’re these huge messy mammoth things piled high with chicken and salsa and sour cream and all other kinds of burrito goodness.  I’m a fan.  Which reminds me.  Thats another thing I miss about UCONN.  I personally think that we have the best food court (its called the Union Street Market).  I love going to the Student Union and being able to get a burrito, a ceasar wrap, and a chicken parm grinder all at one place. But I digress…

Anyway, I’m so pumped about this game.  I told my friend that they might as well buy me the burrito before the game so I can enjoy it while we beat them.  ok, I really didnt say that, I just thought of it… I need to think of these things quicker…

So go Huskies! I’m so hungry.

There are times when I struggle to write blogs because I feel as if nothing interesting is happening to write about. Sometimes I’ll get distracted and tell myself that I’ll blog later.  And sometimes I’ll just delete everything I’ve written if I feel like it sounds funny or it feels forced.

 A few weeks ago I visited The Arlington National Cemetery. Afterwards, I struggled to blog because I felt unable to put in words the things I saw and the emotions I felt.  The sacrifice of so many millions of citizens for our nation is remarkable. Their willingness to place country above all else is something that should be noted, remembered, and praised forever. 

Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God

Well I’ve been down in DC for about two months now.  To the surprise of my parents, I’m still alive.  But it hasn’t been easy.  There have been many a day when I was positive I wasn’t going to live to see the next morning, but I always managed to pull through.  DC has made me tough. I’ve evolved from a young soft college kid into a strong street smart city man.  You may be asking yourself how I did this.  How did I manage to become the veteran dc insider I am today?  Simple, I made a few life adjustments.  As I think of them, I’ll keep you guys updated with other key survival tactics.  Here’s my first tip…

When life gives you lemons… make lemonade.

There are ten interns in the house that I live in. There’s one refrigerator.  You do the math.  It is a constant battle to find space in the cramped fridge to call my own.  Sometimes you’re able to fit all of your groceries and other times you’re not so lucky.  Buying things like eggs and milk can be a risk if you get home and realize that you have no place to put it, so I’ve decided that they are no longer essential.  It took some time getting used to eating a lot of my favorite recipes without some key components, but you learn to love it.    Bisquick mixed with water tastes just as good as bisquick mixed with milk and eggs.  Trust me.

When I first got accepted into the internship program I was fairly excited to travel to DC.  Now after six weeks or so I can honestly say… I miss EVERYTHING about UCONN. Don’t get me wrong, DC is great and my housemates are nice people, but UCONN is where the heart is.  Now you may ask, what is so great about UCONN?  Answer, plenty.  Allow me to count(down) the ways…

5. Connecticut – almost by default UCONN is located in Connecticut.  And even though I wasn’t born there, slowly but surely it is becoming my home.  Working for a representative from Connecticut, dealing with constituents from neighboring towns, and living with other students from towns across the state has really made me aware of the pride I have for the Constitution sate.  Connecticut is by no means perfect, like every state it has its fair share of problems, but it also has so many positives that I am always able to tell people where I am from with pride. 

4. School/Classes – Ok it may seem strange but I miss taking classes.  I miss waking up at 8:05 for an 8:00 class. I miss reading and prepping all night for an exam I knew about for a month.  I miss the feeling of getting an A on a test I worked hard studying for.  I miss that awkward silence in a classroom when a professor asks a question and no one raises their hand.  There’s just something about being able to learn anything you want that seems absolutely amazing to me.

3. Dining Halls – in the real world, you have to go to a grocery store, purchase your food go home and make it yourself.  In the real world you have to choose between ordering pizza and ordering Chinese food.  In the real world you have to wash your own dishes and clean your own silverware.  College is hardly the real world, and UCONN dining halls are some of the best. Open practically all day, each dining hall is an all you can eat buffet of healthy and delicious food.  Being in DC has made me realize that cooking is by no means fun and it is not as easy as it looks on the Food Channel. 

2. Sports – I know that in my last blog I told you guys that me and my roommates had a good time watching the games and all, but I’ll be honest.  Nothing (NOTHING) compares to watching a UCONN game live.  Thousands of crazed college students hurling cheers and chants in support of their school, camera crews, and sports celebrities everywhere, it’s amazing.  When you wake up the next morning and you voice is hoarse and you ears are ringing, you know you did everything you could to support your team.

1. Friends – Its awesome being able to go play sports, watch movies, and study with people that you wouldn’t mind being friends with for the rest of your life.  I can honestly say that there are a number of people back in Storrs that I miss and probably deserve a postcard or two detailing some of my DC adventures.  I love being away and I love experiencing new things, but even more so I love the fact that soon I’ll be going home and will be able to see all those people I left behind this semester.

Ok everyone.  I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to write lately.  I’ve been pretty busy with interning and with running around DC and I’m now using my lunch breaks as opportunities to write my blogs.  I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about what life is like on the hill and today I’ll start by telling you about the other types of interns I’ve gotten to meet.

There are a lot of event on the hill that are geared to interns, they often trap us by offering food or cool demonstrations.  Usually these events last for a few hours and during then you are capable of meeting a lot of people from all over the country.  I’ve been luck enough to meet kids from Texas, Missouri and even from places as far as Hawaii.  But I’ve also gotten to meet some people whose schools I’m pretty familiar with.

Perhaps its because I’m from UCONN.  But I’ve noticed that many of the interns on the hill come from BIG EAST schools.  One of my fellow interns in the office is actually a student at Georgetown.  One of my roommates is from Syracuse. I’ve met kids from Villanova and Notre Dame.  It’s pretty cool being able to talk to kids whose schools you play in different sports (it’s particularly cool when you can tell them how badly your Men’s and Women’s basketball teams crushed their respective schools). 

School rivalries in the Big East are pretty intense, especially when it comes to basketball, but it’s always nice to step back and root for each other when we play teams from outside our conference.  I’m thinking about inviting a bunch of the Big East interns over to the house so they can watch a few of the games with some of us UCONN interns.  I haven’t been able to travel up to UCONN so I figure why not bring the rivalries down here.

Who knows maybe I’ll paint my face and rearrange the seating in our family room and pretend I’m back up in good old Storrs….

I love to do the face paint thing.