Worst Blogger Ever

Hello all,

Yes I realize that it has been a really long time since my last post, and unfortunately this post isn't going to be very long. As I can see from everyones post on Facebook the term is going by quickly and there is just not enough time. Well, that is definitely true here! I am finishing up USS Klakring this week and then will be working on editing other histories, I think, for the rest of my time here, which is only three weeks! I thought that this would be the term in which I would be more organized and get my work done in a timely manner, but that is not the case. I have managed to put off many different assignments and I am now seriously regretting it. Have no fear however, I work best in tight time constraints!

While I still am loving DC I have decided I am ready to come home. It is not that I necessarily want to return to Wisconsin or Iowa but I miss the people. Everyone here is great, I just miss my friends and my family. These last three weeks are going to fly. There is so much to do and so little time. My roommate and I have a list of everything we are going to try and fit in before we leave, it is a long list. I will try and do an update later in the week, but I am making no promises!

Until next time,
Courtney

Over the Hump

Well, it's official I am over halfway through my time here in D.C. When I had that realization I  also realized that I have not done even half the things I had wanted to do while I was here. Not to fear though, since I want to move back out this way. Before I get into how work went this past week I will talk about volunteering at the Army 10 Miler. I was a wave start volunteer for group purple. I was in charge of making sure the runners stayed in the corral until it was their time to go. I  participated in this as part of my civic engagement project with TWC. Since I last wrote I have done a few things. At work I am still working on USS Klakring but I should be finishing that up in the next week or so. I finally hit the 2000's, which will make writing it go a little faster.

The big thing I have done since writing last was represent Envisioning History inc., at GovCon 8. GovCon 8 is an event hosted by Palantir that shows the wide range of uses for Palantir and to inform government officials about what it is. Alastair and I went and ran demos for Envisioning History on our WWII project, specifically a Kamikaze and Pearl Harbor demo. There were many interesting people that we spoke to and they posed a lot of good questions that really made me think. Some of the most fun people to talk to were the other Palantir employees. They were excited to see the program do something different. The Palantir people went all out for this event. They had all the computers there for us, there was free food (a lot of free food), their own personal archways, and the whole thing was free.

GovCon was defiantly the highlight of my week.Throughout the rest of the week I went to class and did homework. My big accomplishment was finishing my first of five books for my independent study class with Dr. Lindell, I guess I should probably pick up the pace! Not to fear though, there is the possibility that I will be cooped up in my apartment for a few days with Hurricane Sandy, aka Frankenstorm, coming tonight, which means that I will have a lot of time to read! Yesterday was spent trying to get information that I needed for some other homework projects off the internet incase the power goes out. There was a study break yesterday when I went to go see Argo. It was amazing and everyone should try and go see it. I will check back in after the storm!

Until next time,
Courtney

Union Station before work one morning

My bedroom

My bedroom

Living Room

Kitche

Table/Living Room

Gov Con

Desserts for lunch (yes that is creme boule)

GovCon

Our booth

Main Stage at GovCon

Me an other TWC students at the Army 10 Milers

Fitting in

When moving to a new place one is usually in awe of their surroundings. For example when going to college there is that feeling of “Oh my gosh I am actually here!” and the excitement to meet new people. Then one day you wake up and it is gone, you just don’t realize it. That is what I have just realized about living in D.C. Everyday on my commute to the Navy Yard I pass the capitol building, the Supreme Court, and the library of congress. Before I was always looking out the windowing taking it all in, now I just read or listen to my music. I realized that while I am still impressed with D.C. that feeling of awe and excitement has subsided.

Not a lot has changed in the last week or so. I am slowly but surely finishing USS Klakring’s ships history, I am finally in the late 90’s! Last week I attended training for a program called Palantir. Palantir is used mostly in intelligence agencies but there is a new non-profit called Envisioning History, Inc. that is looking to use it for story telling. Beginning with WWII. I was lucky enough to be asked to attend the training so I could help with the project. When it is all said and done it is going to be really neat and very useful for scholars and for classrooms. If anyone one would like more information please let me know and I will try to explain it better (it is complicated) and send you some information about the whole outlook.

Getting to the training was definitely an experience all its own. I took the orange line to the very last stop, Vienna. Then I waited for Alastair because we were going to share a cab. This, however, did not happen as there was an accident in the metro and this slowed his metro down. I found the cabs and ended up riding by myself, but once we got on the highway we found everything was at a standstill. I ended up being late to the training, but I wasn’t the only one. Unfortunately, Alastair never made it. The training was very interesting and I enjoyed learning the program.

The weekend came and went all to quickly. I had a four-day weekend because I had programming on Friday afternoon and then Monday was a holiday. My weekend was very relaxed. Friday I went out with Camilla and Jess, we ate at the restraint in the middle of Union Station. It was okay, but definitely over priced. Saturday I went to the Wheaton Mall to go to Old Navy. That mall was huge! I got lost several times. Sunday I spent lounging after going to the grocery store and Monday was spent trying to get caught up on homework.

This week has gone by relatively quickly due to the long weekend. I am excited for tomorrow, as it is the Navy’s birthday so the Command is having a big potluck and an early release for the occasion. While most of the staff is excited for the early release, the interns are more excited for the free food. As for the weekend, we will see what it brings!

Until next time!

Courtney

"Oh the things you can find if you don't stay behind!"

"How did it get late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?"                        ~Dr. Seuss




Since coming to D. C. there has been so much to do that time has flown. I realized early last week that I have been here for a month! It definitely hasn't felt that long. The result of being super busy, I have slacked on my blog writing. To make up for it this blog will be really long and will relate to Dr. Seuss quotes. I was looking at quotes on day and realized that I could relate to a lot of Dr. Seuss quotes, so here it goes!




"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

The past two weeks at work has been the same from when I last wrote. I am still working on USS Klakring's ships history and I still enjoy going to work everyday. So I have two stories. The first one was from Tuesday the 18th. I knew when going to work that morning that it was supposed to rain, which would make class that evening interesting, since we were meeting in Georgetown. As the day progressed the storm looked like it was getting worse and at one point included a tornado watch. When I was told about the watch I just kind of laughed, people were making a big deal out of it. Being from the midwest where we don't go into the basement unless there has been a tornado sighted I just
thought it funny. Well the storm eventually
became a big enough deal that the director of NHHC gave everyone permission to leave an hour early. Since Cassie and I planned on leaving at four this meant we left really early, at 2:45. This was in effort to get back to the RAF before the rain let loose. While waiting for the bus and hoping not to get wet, we found out that our class had been cancelled because of the storm. This meant we had left work early and now had a good chunk of our evening to relax. Unfortunately, we did not miss the rain. After getting off the bus at Union Station Cassie pointed at the wall of rain that didn't even give us a chance to get our umbrellas up. When we finally did get them up they proved useless because of the wind. By the time we got back to the RAF we looked like drowned rats. In the end, the storm didn't last long. By the time we got up to our rooms it was starting to let up a bit and by the time class would have taken place it wasn't raining at all. My second story took place on Friday the 28th. Our office is making some office switches and the conference room that Cassie, Alastair, and I have taken over is going to become the oral history office. This means that we are getting kicked out of the room, thankfully not yet. The new used desks came on Friday so we had to get our stuff off the table so it could be deconstructed to make room for the desks. When the desks were finally moved in Alastair beat us into the room and chose how he wanted his things, which we were fine with. Once Cassie and I figured out where our stuff was going with the help of Alastair and Kevin we began organizing. This began after Alastair, Kevin, and Laura went to lunch. Since the room was originally a conference room there was a lot of chairs and I decided they would be perfect behind Alastair's desk, so I squeezed six of them back there and put his cart back next to it so he would have to move everything to get all of them back out. Cassie and I managed to get back from lunch before they did and we were there when he found the chairs. Kevin and Laura thought it was funny and Alastair said to be prepared because it was on. Since I grew up with brothers, I think I can handle it! It is things like this that makes going to work so enjoyable. We do work but we make sure to have fun at the same time.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose!"

For anyone who doesn't know, I have decided to go into intelligence work. This being said I have had to make a lot of decisions in the past few weeks, like finding another entire list of grad schools to choose from (there aren't many) and trying to change my schedule winter and May term to fit into this new direction. This is my new direction, one that I am excited to follow. Last Friday after work I went to my first grad school fair where I met with different schools, Georgetown, Kings College, and the Institue of World Politics. I was greeted the best at IWP and I am looking forward to going to their open house on November 2nd.

"And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98 and three quarters percent guaranteed)."

As part of the grad school search process I have decided to take my GRE again. While I did well on the verbal part the last time, my quantitative portion was not as high as I would like. (I am a history major, why do I need math? JK) I was hoping to take it at the end of October but there was no date that worked for me so now I am taking it on the 5th.  I think it will go better, I just dread taking it. But if that is what it takes to get into grad school then I will power through it.

"Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered."

On Wednesday the 19th I decided to walk the CVS by the Navy Yard to get a few things before I went home. While I could have taken the metro home I decided to take the bus, since it was cheaper, and I will never regret that decision. When I got to the stop a woman asked me if I rode the bus often because a man was trying to make his way to Georgetown to the hospital. After we gave him directions we continued talking. When it came time to get off the bus at Union Station we discovered that we lived only a block and a half away from each other. I ended up walking home with her and Sandra gave me her number and to keep in touch. She also gave me a recommendation for a church to go to. Well, I ended up going to the church last week and it was awesome! I had a blast, which lead to me calling Sandra and leaving her a thank you message. That evening I got a call back asking me over for dinner. Dinner was awesome and I got to meet Marie, who is an intern that is living with Sandra and her husband until October. It just goes to show you never know who you will meet on the bus!

"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"

Wartburg has always said that they have alum all over the country but I never really tought about it until I got here. While I have not met an actual alum I had someone from my class come up and tell me his dad graduated from Wartburg. My roommate Sam was telling me about one of her professors, Kunihiko Terasawa, and how he was going to be teaching in Iowa now. She couldn't remember exactly where he was going to be teaching so she looked it up. I bet you can't guess where he is! That's right, he is at Wartburg now! It is funny how things like that work!  I was also introduced to someone who is in the Navy at work and it turns out that he is from Wausau, Wisconsin. The other funny coincidence happened last weekend. Being from Wisconsin I root for the Brewers. Well my roommate Camilla and I decided we wanted to go to a Nationals game, not for the baseball but because Dierks Bentley was performing afterwards. Ironically the Nationals were playing the Brewers. 

"Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act."

While here I am definitely learning that life is a balancing act. I am being pulled in so many directions. There are festivals that I want to go to on the weekend and I also have to find time for homework. Then during the week I have to go to work, programming, class, optional career services events, and study. I am learning that sometimes I have to choose what is most important and give up something things. I guess that is life!

"If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good."

While weekends are crazy packed and Sunday's are usually spent doing homework there are a lot of festivals that go on in D.C. One I recently went to was the H Street Festival which was a ton of fun! The most interesting thing was watching the ASL interpreters for the musicians that were playing. I think they were having more fun than the musicians. Yesterday I was wandering the mall and taking pictures and came across a Chinese festival and a walk for dogs. It was definitely interesting to watch!


"All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you'll be quite a lot!"

This definitely rings true right now. While I am always with people I do miss my friends at the 'Burg. My coworkers in the Mensa, and my family at home and the midwest feel. I love the big city but I miss being able to know the other people walking down the street.


Until next time!
Courtney

This one is for all the folks in the Mensa!

                                   

I survived!

This past week was one adventure after another. First was getting through my first day in the Ships Histories of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Cassie and I discovered that the ride is a lot shorter that when we took it last Saturday and ended up arriving outside of the base just over an hour early. So we ended up sitting on a bench outside of base for a while. When we finally decided to head in and get our visitors pass we found out that it still did not take us as long as what we thought, there was a Dunkin Doughnuts so we sat outside for 20 minutes. Finally we decided to go to the museum and ask for Dr. Furgol. Once we got there, he took us to where we would be working. That is where Cassie and I parted, but only for a little while. I was taken to my building and introduced to Mr.  Bob Cressman, who is my internship supervisor for the next 15 weeks. He told me generally what went on in the department and we talked about what I would be doing. I then was introduced to everyone in the department and the other two interns in the office, one of them is Cassie and the other is from England. 

Once introductions were made I was given my first ship to research, the Brig Oneida from the War of 1812. The ship was the very first war vessel on Lake Ontario that the United States Navy owned. I love doing research but I never realized how frustrating it could be when there is so little information on something. Since there was not a lot of information I finish the write up on the ship Friday morning and was given a new ship. Friday was also a fun day. Mr. Mark Evens gave a more extensive tour of the Command, including a trip to the armory and the underwater archeology (UA) lab. The armory was really neat, there was so much to look at and it was awesome to see in person some of the weapons I had read about for different research projects. There was also a brief case gun which was really cool because I had heard of them before but never really knew what they looked like. The UA lab was equally as impressive. In the lab they bring up artifacts from the different underwater ships and preserve them. One of the ships that they have artifacts from is the Alabama from the civil war. The pieces that they have are amazingly well preserved and were really neat to learn about. Overall the tour was a great way to end the week. 

When I was not at work I was taking part in TWC events or class. I had my first Scandalous Washington class on Tuesday which was very interesting. Throughout the semester we will be learning about the history of Washington through its scandals and traveling to these different places. 

As for the weekend on Friday Camilla, Jess, and I went out for dinner. We ended up at a place called Sports Tavern, which is exactly what it sounds. It had really good food and we were able to eat outside which was fun. We also got to deal with all the fun that surrounds the metro when a line is closed for repairs for the weekend. The red line, which closest to us, is closed from NOMA to Farugut North. This resulted in WMATA providing shuttles, but since it was the first night and we missed the last running metro they shuttles were chaotic and packed and took a lot longer. Then the next day we decided to go to Georgetown with the sole priority of getting Georgetown Cupcakes. We took the circulator to get to Georgetown and then found the cupcake shop. We all got two cupcakes, mine were carmel apple and peanut butter fudge. After eating the first cupcake I decided that Scratch Cupcakery in Cedar Falls, IA is hands down the best cupcake place around. I have yet to find a better cupcake. After eating our cupcakes we decided to explore and went down by the river and walked along the trail. Eventually we ended up back in downtown DC. How that happened we don't really know, we just kept walking. While on our walk we got to see many different things, there was a DC triathlon, the Jefferson Memorial,  the back side of the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, the Capitol Building, the Botanical Garden, the Kennedy Center, Watergate, and some really pretty scenery. When all was said and done we ended up walking 7.5 miles, but it was a lot of fun! Now the rest of the weekend, or what is left, is going to be doing our homework and having a pancake dinner! 

Until next time!

Courtney

The Adventure Begins!

        Well I am finally here and settled in at my apartment in Washington, D.C. For all those who don't know me, my name is Courtney and I am a history major at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA. For the fall term I will be interning at the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington D.C. through The Washington Center (TWC). Throughout my time here I will explain more what goes into the TWC program. I started my adventure last Wednesday and have been enjoying every moment since. Since arriving I have survived the metro, the circulator, walking to the capitol and on the mall, and most of all orientation. 

       Orientation was a two day process. Day one was spent with our program groups, I am in the Advocacy, Service, and the Arts program. We are a small group compared to the Political Leadership group and some of the other but that just means we get to know one another better. The beginning of our group orientation went the same as if you were in the first day of the college class, going over the syllabus. After lunch, however, we went to the TWC headquarters and went through the Leadership Compass with the guidance of City Year. I have done a great many leadership workshops where the goal is to find out what kind of leader you are, but this one put it in different terms and in a way that almost makes more sense. The activity that we did also was a lot of fun. We had to number off in our groups and then get into four big groups. Once in these groups we had to build a tower with the materials provided but depending on what your leadership style was you had something you couldn't do. Some couldn't talk, some couldn't see what was going on, and some couldn't touch the structure. In the end our tower didn't even stand up but it was still a fun activity. At the end of Day One the RA's and some of the other staff here at the Residential and Academic Facility (RAF) had nine stations of ice cream throughout the building, free ice cream is always a good idea to get people together.

       Day Two of orientation was spent in the auditorium listening to the president of TWC and some other speakers talk about the goals of the TWC program and different services to help us along the way. At the end of all the speakers we could go sign up for TWC lead civic engagement projects, which is part of the program. By the end of the orientation everyone was well aware of how busy we would be during our 15 weeks here. 

      The second day of orientation only went into the early afternoon so we had free time in the evening. Some of my roommates and I went to the National Mall and did some sight seeing. We unfortunately found out there is no metro stop close to the Lincoln Memorial, which meant a lot of walking. When we finally got back to the metro we met up with our other roommate and went to a restaurant called Lime. It is a mexican restaurant that is cheap and was really good. 

      The favorite part of my time here so far was doing a dry run of getting to my internship with another girl interning in the same spot. We had to take a bus and ride literally across DC and then walk a little ways to the visitors entrance. Once we got to the Navy Yard we realized that we could probably go see the museum and got a visitors pass went exploring. The museum was really neat and got us both excited. We also got to see display ship Barry, which was also really neat. Then last night it rained and I got to see a storm that produced some really neat lightning. I was told that DC had some pretty spectacular lighting storms and I was excited to see some and decided to attempt to get some pictures, thankfully I got one decent one. I start my internship on Tuesday, which will be another adventure of its own nature!