Epilogue

Good afternoon everyone! I hope that everyone is having a great week, even though I know that in the case of many of you there are still finals, papers, and projects up ahead. Meanwhile, some of you are already done with college or even graduated from college. Alas, it would not be wise to delay the inevitable, so here's what happened in the past week.
I have started to hunt for my first car. As a college student, I know that I can only afford a used car, but a Chevy that fits my price range and a couple other qualifications would be nice. I don't know if I will take the car to college with me in the fall, but it will definitely come in handy for the summer.
Life back home reminds me of what home life is like during the summer, even though the outdoor temperatures don't fit the season yet. I've done the typical chores back home, like laundry and cleaning. I've also watched some TV shows with my family, such as "NCIS", "NCIS: Los Angeles", "Star Trek" reruns, and "MASH" reruns. There's been plenty of time to pet my dog Buddy.
On Mother's Day, the 10th, I visited my home church for the first time in about 4 months. I feel kind of old, considering that some of the kids that I considered to be so young have recently been confirmed. (People get confirmed in 8th grade at my church.) After church, I made lunch as well as a coconut cake for my mom. It's been 3 years since the last time I was home for Mother's Day. Overall, the day was relaxing.
On Wednesday, May 12th, an excerpt that I wrote for the Washington Internship Institute (WII) about my experience at AAPD was published on the WII website. If you would like to read it, here is the link: http://wiidc.org/studentprofiles/2015/5/11/rpaolr1f3ejn86valkbcirdi78zwur I sent the link to the head of the Political Science department, and he sent it to the other Political Science professors at Gustavus. He would also like me to speak about my experiences sometime next school year for a Friday Forum.
Thus ends the last post for my blog "So Many Stories...". I may write again about a different chapter and season of my life, but only time will tell when exactly that will be... In the meantime, I wish the best of luck to those who have finals before their semester is done!

The Journey Home

Good evening from Blaine, Minnesota and not Arlington, Virginia! I hope that you all had a great week. I know that technically my semester on the East Coast is over, but there is still quite a bit that happened over the past week...
On Saturday, the 2nd, I moved out of my apartment with the help of my mom. Between Friday night and Saturday I was giving my goodbyes to the people that I got to know the most over the semester. After I moved out and turned in my keys, I introduced my mom to the Metro System in order to go sightseeing. We first went to the International Spy Museum. When we were there, we took on cover identities, heard an introduction about some facts about spies from Linda Hunt (she portrays Hetty Lange on NCIS: Los Angeles), and saw some cool spy gadgets. We even saw a letter written by George Washington and code devices used in the Civil War by the Union and Confederate sides. After that museum, we went to Shake Shack where we enjoyed milkshakes, burgers, and fries. Then we went to the Crime Museum where we saw items owned by some of the infamous American criminals such as Al Capone and Bonnie and Clyde, a variety of weapons and punishment devices from across history, and a few items used in the TV show America's Most Wanted. After that we returned to the hotel for the night.
On Sunday, the 3rd, after a nice breakfast at the hotel we did some more sightseeing. In order, we saw the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, World War I Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and Albert Einstein Memorial. For lunch and dessert we went to Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread. From there we returned to the hotel for the night.
On Monday, the 4th, my mom and I woke up early in order to start the journey home. After about 14 hours on the road and 1,000 miles (for the record my mom wasn't speeding), we stopped for the night in Bloomington, Illinois.
On Tuesday, the 5th, we woke up early once again in order to travel the rest of the way home. Approximately 8 hours later, we arrived back home and we even managed to beat my dad and brother home. Needless to say, it feels nice yet odd to be back home.
I miss the people I met over the semester and it feels weird to be done for the semester while many of my friends still have classes and finals over the next couple weeks. Anyway, next week I will write one last blog post in order to close this chapter of my life. Stay tuned!

Things Coming Full Circle

Hello everyone! I hope that you all are having a good week. Due to the fact that as I write I'm packing up my belongings because I move out tomorrow, this post will be shorter than usual. Therefore, let's get started.
Lately I've noticed that some aspects of my time away from MN have come full circle. Last Friday on my way to the Metro with my fellow AAPD interns, which was the last day of Niki's time at AAPD, we walked by the place where we got milkshakes on the first Friday of my internship. On Sunday, April 26th, after church some members of the congregation at Great Commission Community Church and I went to the same Vietnamese restaurant that I went after the first time I went to that church. Over the past couple days I've come across a couple different Minnesotans, one from a different nonprofit organization who happened to come to the monthly event that AAPD hosts and the other at the bank, of which reminded me of when I first met a fellow Minnesotan when I first attended Great Commission Community Church. Yesterday, April 30th, I walked by the Smithsonian Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, which the first Smtihsonian that I visited during my time here. Tomorrow I will turn in my keys to the very office where I first picked them up. It's interesting how the closure of an experience works sometimes...
There will be much more to write about next week, and by then I'll be back in MN too. Have a great weekend everyone!

To Act or Not To Act- That is the Question

Disclaimer: I did not have a sudden epiphany to switch to an acting career from one related to politics. The title will make sense in time, so be patient.
Good evening everyone! I hope that this week was pleasant for all of you. Anyway, quite a bit happened between when I last wrote and now...
On Saturday the 18th I returned to the Natural History Museum in order to look at everything I didn't see last time and this time I was ready with a fully-charged camera. While there were many fake animals, there were some live butterflies, various insects, and fish. I also took a couple photos of the Hope Diamond and saw a couple mummies. Out of all of the museums I've visited, I think that Natural History is the most child-friendly since there are lots of items throughout the museum with a "Please Touch" sign near them. From the museum I walked to the Washington Monument because of the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day Concert, which was free for the public to attend. While I was there, I heard a few political figures, the makers of Angry Birds, a spokesperson from Toyota, and a pre-recorded Secretary of State John Kerry talk about their hopes and initiatives in order to decrease impact on climate change and end poverty by 2030. I witnessed Fall Out Boy, Usher, and Common perform on stage and I thought they did a great job. One of the big themes from the event was the fact that in order to make these goals happen, we as a society need to act and not just be bystanders. The results of not acting would damage the future of both Earth and all who live on it.
On Sunday the 19th I went to the Shakespeare Folger Library in order to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday. Outside of the library there was a dynamic duo called Nickel Shakespeare Girls that performed 30-second snippets of whatever Shakespeare play people requested with some humorous twists. I got to go inside the Reading Room, which is not normally open for public access, and see some intriguing tapestries, paintings, and stained glass windows. Casey Kaleba, fight coordinator for Folger Theatre performances, put on a couple sword-fighting demonstrations with some help from 3 assistants. In Folger Theatre, I got to speak a bit of "Hamlet". Towards the end of the celebration, a Queen Elizabeth I impersonator also cut a fancy cake with a rapier and thanked us for coming to celebrate Shakespeare's 451st birthday. All of the guests then received free cake.
Those are the highlights of the past week. Next week's post will cover many events during my last days in DC... In the meantime, have a great week and never take time for granted.

Take Me Out into Nature

Good evening everyone! I hope that you all have enjoyed your week. Yes the title of this week's post is based on "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" because I did see a baseball game this week, but there is also a strong influence of nature this week. Quite a few things took place over the past week, so let's get started.
To provide a bit a context, from last Thursday to Monday 13th was peak bloom for the cherry blossoms. Peak bloom means that at least 70% of the blossoms were in bloom at the Tidal Basin. Many Japanese consider cherry blossoms to be bridges between Heaven and Earth...
On Saturday the 11th I saw many things that had to do with nature. In the morning, I went to see the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. There were quite a few marching bands, balloons, old-style cars, and floats. Also, there were some horses, old-fashioned bicycles, unicycles, and even roller skaters. However, there was no candy thrown at this parade, which probably disappointed the little kids who were present. After the parade, I visited part of the Natural History Museum. (I didn't get through all of it since my camera battery was starting to die and I wanted to see the cherry blossoms.) I walked to the Washington Monument and Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. While it was super crowded since people were out enjoying peak bloom, it was so lovely outside. I was surprised though to see more white than pink in the cherry blossoms. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.
On a side-note though, I was annoyed to see people picking the blossoms when there were a couple signs that clearly stated that people couldn't climb on the trees or pick the blossoms. When it comes to nature, sometimes by touching or taking away we ruin the beauty that we aspire to admire. Perhaps more signs should have been posted about not picking the flowers...
After church on Sunday the 12th, some of the people from the congregation at the church I attend and I went to Pentagon City to grab lunch and then went to Virginia Highlands Park for a picnic since the weather was nice. It has been a while since I last went to a picnic, so this was a fun opportunity to get to know some of the people at my church.
When I was done with work on Monday the 13th, I still had to record a video for my Internship Seminar, so one of my fellow interns from AAPD, Subha, and I went to the Tidal Basin in order to record to video with some cherry blossoms in the background. It took 21 takes to get it right since I get nervous when I know I'm being recorded, but I think it turned out alright. Like Saturday, the weather was fantastic. However, there weren't as many people around, which was nice for recording purposes.
Fast-forward to yesterday, the 16th, and I decided to walk from my internship to the Tidal Basin, which was about a half an hour walk. I will say that it was a bit sad to see the Tidal Basin after peak bloom, since so many of the blossoms were blown off (or in some cases picked off). However, some cherry blossom trees still had some flowers on them. From Tidal Basin I went to Nationals Stadium in order to see the Washington Nationals play against the Philadelphia Phillies. Many of my fellow interns from the Washington Internship Institute (WII) also attended the game, and thankfully the program paid for our tickets. I was surprised that the game went by so quickly; the first pitch was at 7:05 PM and the game ended before 10:00 PM. For the record, the Nationals won 5-2.
Today was the last day of my fellow intern at AAPD Niki, which is another reminder to me that my time is coming to a close. Next week will have its own series of events, so stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure to stop and smell the roses during your week.

History and His Story

Good evening everyone from a cloudy Arlington, VA! I hope that you all are having a good week. Also, I hope that everyone had a happy Easter! Anyway, here are a couple highlights from the past week.
Last Saturday, the 4th, I went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and spent most of my day there. There were a whole lot of things that I saw from different time periods. Among the items from the American Revolution, I saw George Washington's sword and Ben Franklin's cane. I also saw the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner". A couple pop culture references that I saw included Dorothy's slippers and the puppet of Count von Count. In the category of sport-related items, I saw a pair of Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and a pair of Apolo Ohno's speed skates. Based on the china and dresses that I saw in the First Ladies' Exhibit, it appears that a lot of things have changed over time, which on one hand isn't surprising, but for some reason I was expecting more consistency in china used at the White House. While I could write for ages about all the things I saw, I feel like that would make people bored. In other words, to find out what else is at the American History Museum, you will have to visit there yourself.
Sunday the 5th was Easter Sunday! The night before I prepared small Easter baskets for my roommates and left them on their bedside tables. (For the record, one of my roommates was spending time with her family while another was with her boyfriend, so no I did not sneak into their rooms while they were asleep in order to place the baskets.) I went to church early in order to see 7 people get baptized, of which most of them were children. The baptisms took place at the swimming pool of the hotel that the church is located. (This may be a bit reminiscent to Prepare people.) A couple pastors asked some of the kids if they were sure they wanted to be baptized right before they were baptized, which caused a bit of laughter. I thought that the Easter baptisms were well-timed, considering all of the symbolism involved in baptism and how Easter in some ways parallels baptism. After the baptisms was of course Easter service, which entailed joyous singing and hearing of the Resurrection and of when Jesus appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection. Unfortunately Easter was also the last service that my friend from church who is also originally from MN attended since she moved back to MN this week. Hopefully we shall see each other again once I return to MN. Unfortunately after Easter service, it was back to the apartment to do homework. Needless to say, this Easter felt off since it was the first time that I spent Easter separated from my family.
There is still so much to see and do, but so little time to do it as time is slipping away... Next week will have more tales of adventure. Enjoy your week everyone!

Gusties Galore

Good evening everyone! I hope that for those of you on Spring Break, that you are having a good time. I will say that it's a bit odd to say that I had my last Spring Break ever last spring and that this year I get no Spring Break, but that is the part of the price I paid in order to be here (besides groceries and Metro transportation of course). Anyway, since Gustavus is on Spring Break this week, I got to see quite a few Gusties.
On Monday March 30th, I got to meet Britta at the Au Bon Pain close to my internship. Au Bon Pain is a cafe that does pastries, bagels, soups, sandwiches, coffee, tea, and other related items. We got to catch up on what was going on over the course of the semester. We also gave each other a few pointers on places to go while in DC. Before we parted ways, I brought her to AAPD and gave her a tour of the office. While we may not have spent hours on end together, I'm glad that we got some time to be together.
Fast-forward to Wednesday April 1st and after work I went to a concert performed by the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra (GSO) since they went on tour in the area for Spring Break. I knew that they were going to be in the area since my work study boss, Al Behrends, told me when and where they were playing as well as asked me advice on places to go and things to do while in Washington DC. However, what my friends in GSO didn't know was that I was going to be at their concert, so I caught some of them by surprise when I just walked up to them while they were chatting outside the church before they needed to be on stage ready to perform. That was a fun surprise to pull! Both before and after the performance, I got to catch up on what was going on in people's lives as well as give them a bit of advice for what to do during their free day in DC on Thursday. They did a fantastic job at the concert! It's always great to hear when hard work and musicianship pays off. I hope that they had a fun free day yesterday.
While there is more that I could write about, I think I will save some things as stories to tell when I'm back in MN. It's weird to think that in a month I will return to MN, but there is much to do before that happens. Next week will have its own story to it. Have a Happy Easter everyone!