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!