My Picture with The Speaker!

I realized I didn't post my picture with the speaker earlier! Whoops!

Also, that document I carried around is talked about in this article from CNN. I'm. Famous. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/31/political-fight-over-student-loans-heats-up/

LAST DAY ...it's over...

I can't believe today was my last day working in the Speaker's office. Luckily I went out with an unbelievably good day. I woke up extra early this morning and got to the office before anyone else so I could put everyone's cards and gifts on their desk before they got there. Everyone really liked their cards and the ladies loved their flowers. I went to watch a press conference which was so so cool. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my phone with me to take pictures. But! If you see a clip of the conference on TV, the Speaker does a little head nod/ half smile thing to the crowd... That was at me!! I'm basically famous. Later, I took the Speaker his lunch on the house floor while they were in session. My second debut on c-span of the day! Score!





























At the end of the day, Speaker Boehner thanked me for the sleeve of golf balls and card I gave him. He also said he would take me up on my offer to play a round of golf next time he comes to Cleveland. Well, not next time, because he is going there tonight! Once the Speaker left for the day the whole staff went out on the second balcony (yes, the speaker has 2 balconies!) and relaxed after a long week.

After I said my goodbyes, I was told that I could come back and intern again/ work here in the future. My goodbyes all turned in to see you laters! For some reason though when I walked out of the Capitol for the last time today it brought a few tears to my eyes. I now understand how people fall in love with stuff so quickly because I have fallen completely in love with what I did here these last 3 weeks. I am so sad that I have to go back Cleveland. It is such a disappointing place compared to DC. This entire experience has honestly been the coolest thing I have done in my entire life. Now I just have to count down the seconds until I can make my return!!!

Until my next internship...
God Bless America,
Ali

Ps.  I have a jam packed summer that promises excitement. I will be golfing on North Coast Junior Tour yet again this summer. I have been working on my game a lot in the off season, so hopefully that will pay off. I am also working in Congressmen Steve LaTourette's Painesville office once a week and continuing to volunteer with the autistic boy I've told you about. This will all be in the midst of working as the pro-shop attendant at Kirtland Country Club and continuing to be a Senior caddy there. I will also be spending one week being a team leader at Vacation Bible School at St. Gabes and spending another week and a women's leadership conference in Connecticut. I will probably not sleep this summer and I may go a little crazy, but it will all be in good fun. This will be my first summer with my license and a little freedom, so I cannot wait!

June 1, 2012

Its my second to last day!!!! Today has been so eventful! The Speaker was back in the office and everything was very hectic. When he came in this morning he didn't even hesitate on my name. It has been over a week of recess and he came back still knowing who I am! For some reason I find this to be the greatest thing ever! To top it off he gave me a present! The flight crew of the plane in the picture down there sent that picture to the speaker and when he showed it to me I told him it was super cool so he told me to make a color copy of it and take it home! Best friends!

I spent most of my afternoon walking (and riding around in the little underground subway car) to the elected Republican Leaders' offices gathering signatures for a letter that was about to be sent to President Obama. Too freaking cool! Tomorrow will be my last day here and I am ridiculously upset! I never ever want to leave! I love love love it here!! I spent my night gathering thank you gifts and writing thank you cards to various staffers that have helped me over the course of these three weeks. I need to get some sleep before the big last day. I am utterly exhausted.

God Bless America,
Ali

May 28, 2012

It was really fun having the long Memorial Day weekend, but sad because it is one less day I get to spend working on the Hill. I officially only have 4 days left and I am literally SO sad! I am going to miss this place so much! I promised myself I will return soon! Since the last time I posted I have actually been super busy. Friday was a really slow day in the office, most people left by noon. But, at noon I had a tour of the Capitol Dome! It was so so cool! After going up 300+ steps, the view is amazing! The visible Dome from the outside isn't actually the original dome, there is an old dome and a new dome built on top of it. The first spot you stop as you climb to the top of the dome is at the top of the Rotunda ceiling. Once you go up another 100 steps you are outside on top of the entire building and the view is INCREDIBLE. Such a cool experience.

Saturday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, yet again, to go on a tour of the White House. It was so cool that I can say I'v been in the White House ... Where I'll live someday. Haha. Then Monday I went and visited the Johns Hopkins and Loyola of Maryland campus'. Both were very pretty and nice. Loved them.

After those big things I spent the rest of the weekend swimming, tanning, golfing and honoring our veterans. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

God Bless America,
Ali

May 24, 2012

Today was another beautiful day on Capitol Hill. We continued our project of organizing all the Speaker's gifts. We went over to all of his offices and found a lot of interesting stuff. Unfortunately I missed my little brothers birthday back home. The big man turned 12 today. So old! Anyways, I stayed a little later then usual today because the Attorney General, Eric Holder, had a meeting with Senator Leahy, across the hall. After the meeting I got to escort him to our bathroom. It was really cool and he was super nice. It's funny to think how meeting the Attorney General felt like a big moment in my life, but he'll probably never even remember me. That first picture, if you look really close, you can see Attorney General Holder! I couldn't really get a picture up close because of the darn security detail. One more day in the office this week, then it's a nice long weekend! Memorial Day!

God Bless America,
Ali

May 22, 2012

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I haven't had a ton to say but I've been keeping busy. I had a very low key weekend of sleeping, tanning and seeing the Avengers. I've met some really interesting people on the train system, it is far different from traveling in Cleveland. Today and yesterday I did a lot of busy work in the office, then this afternoon I helped start a project to organize and catalog all the cool gifts Speaker Boehner receives. It was interesting seeing all the cool (and sometimes strange) things people send. The most interesting, by far, was this random tribal wall hanging we found... Hahah. The office is pretty slow when Congress is not in session. Tomorrow I have a lunch "date" with my new guy "friends" from the office. Super excited! Hopefully I will be able to fit in some golf later this week. Yay.

God Bless America,
Ali

May 17, 2012

Today was a very long day; it seemed to just go on and on and on. People warned me that sometimes days seem to stretch on forever, but I hadn’t really noticed that until today. The funny thing is that The Speaker was even feeling the longness of today. We exchanged knowing glances as he passed my desk all day, then at the end of the day he promised me it would get more exciting, "no worries, Ali" (he knows my name:) Even though the schedule today was completely full of people coming in and out to see the speaker, the time in between their arrivals seemed infinite. The majority of people coming in today were diffrent representatives, including the Republican Leadership guys who come in for a breif meetng every day. Today Eric Cantor Shook my hand and talked to me for a couple moments, I guess that makes us friends now.. right? The big guest of the day was country music star, Glen Campbell. I had the opportunity of walking him from our office to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office. Glen suffers from Alzheimer’s and him, along with his family, advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness. On our walk over I even snapped a picture with him, too cool!! As the day moved along I made copies and distributed mail… exciting. Later, my buddy Mike gave me a hat that matched my dress and says Obama Care on it, so I wore it home on the train.. Unfortunately when I got on my first train the only open seat was next to a big guy wearing a well worn tee shirt that saying "Obama Heath Care Reform 2012". I stood up for that ride... Tonight should be an early night, I am utterly exhausted. I look forward to hitting the pool and getting a tan as dark as Speaker Boehners' this weekend.

God Bless America,

Ali

May 16, 2012

"I woke up in the mornin' feelin' like P. Diddy"... Well, maybe not exactly like Diddy, but I did wake up this morning ridiculously excited and ready for the day! The big thing on my agenda today was getting my picture taken with Speaker Boehner. The picture went well, hopefully I didn't blink!! When Speaker Boehner does photos, he lines up a bunch of people all at once and they go down the line to get pictures taken rapid fire. There were people from all over the country lined up. After I helped in corralling the multitude through the line, I finally got my moment to shine. Wanna know the best part about it? He completely remembered my name! Other interns have told me it takes him weeks or months to remember names, but no, not me! Day four and he already has my name down! The rest of the day was pretty exciting too, all four of the major Republican Leaders came into the office, and Senator Leahy, who has the office right across the hall from The Speaker's, came over and talked to me. After talking for a moment he invited me over to see his office and offered me some snacks. He told me I could come by and visit any time! How nice! I've made friends with the police officers and security detail, I am guessing those are the people I want on my side, right!? All in all everyone has been extremely kind and also very impressed with the fact that I'm only in high school. Most interns with my position are typically elder college students and grad students. T

Today was another great day of fun, galore and more on Capitol Hill. I am ready for another great one tomorrow!!

God Bless America,
Ali

May 15, 2012

"You will never get a second chance to make a first impression". Unfortunately even after repeating this to myself a thousand times on my train ride to work today, I still managed to forget my own advice. Before Speaker Boehner arrived, there was a memorial to National Peace Officers being held on the front lawn of the Capitol. Guess who the main speaker was? President Obama! I was maybe 200 yards away from the President of the United States of America! I stood out on the Speaker's balcony and watched President Obama deliver his heartfelt speech to the peaceful men who protect our country. Once Speaker Boehner arrived, things got a little more hectic. At any one time there were at minimum six or seven secret service detail lurking around the hallway and my desk. After the Speaker grabbed a cup of coffee, my moment to shine finally arrived. He came up to my desk and shook my hand, which was shaking in more ways then one, then asked me my name and where I live and go to school. I fumbled over my words, and probably sounded like an idiot... When he passed my desk the rest of the day, he would say hello or make little remarks, and I just couldn't come up with words to say back so I would just laugh a little... Again probably sounding like an idiot... Not the best of first impressions I guess. On the bright side, I went and got his lunch today. I walked right up to his desk and set it down! I'm so cool!! Later in the afternoon Speaker Boehner left to make an address on the economy which I watched live from my desk. It was cool because as I watched it, it was happening in real life just a few rooms away. Then, to top the day off, I got to meet the CEO of apple, Tim Cook, before he went in to meet with the Speaker. He had a diet coke to drink. I didn't want to be rude and ask to take a picture... But now I sure wish I had one.. Oh well. Tomorrow, as always, should be another fun and exciting day on Capitol Hill!



God Bless America,
Ali

I Got Promoted!!

This morning I started by making tons of coffee and sorting through mail. From there, me and my main boy Teddy set off to the Cannon building to get my official Capitol ID. This turned into more of a chore then it needed to be when we got there and realized I had forgotten my license, which they needed to create my ID. After running back and fourth about 3 times I finally had my (awfully photographed) ID in hand! When I walked back into the office my boss, Tommy, gave me some good news... He told me I was already being promoted!! How exciting! I now have a desk directly outside The Speaker's office where I get to talk to and accommodate those who come to have meetings with The Speaker, get his lunch each day, and a few more simple things. The job may not sound like much, but at this rate I should be the President by the end of these 3 weeks!! Tomorrow will be my first day of working when congress is in session. According to everyone I have talked to, everything gets WAY more exciting when congress is in session. Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

God Bless America,
Ali

Day One, DONE

Today was literally such a good day, I don't even have words to describe how great it truly was! Everything is perfect, I have my own desk in the TACC (Tom Andrews Communications Center), where I get to feel super important. Everyone continually told me today was a super boring day, because congress was not in session, but honestly just being there, even on a slow day, is beyond cool! I learned all the interesting ropes of making coffee and keeping various fridges stocked with pop and water. I met SO many people, who I am afraid name's may escape me until I meet them one or two more times, but I will learn them all soon. And I even made friends with some security guards. All the people I met have been soo nice and the people I will be working closely with are SUPER nice, and in my opinion, might already like me! How exciting! I found people to play golf with while I'm here, in and out of the office (we have a putting green in the office, lol). All in all, the highlight of the day was following along with a tour another intern was giving to the Chief Of Staff and Lieutenant General from Panama, where my two years of Spanish 1 knowledge really came in handy. After running papers all over the Capitol and to more offices across the street I realized new, tight shoes probably weren't the best idea. But, after such a great day, who cares! If I'm smart, I'll grab a couple bandages before leaving on Monday morning. After an exciting day my dad, the Rodgers (the great family I am staying with) and I went into Baltimore for a great dinner! My dad leaves tomorrow morning, then I am pretty much on my own! Freedom! Hopefully I will get to take a look at John Hopkins University while I'm dropping him off at the airport near there, which means another early morning!

Goodnight and God Bless America,
Ali

I. Am. Ready.

Today my dad and I set off for the city. We did everything just like I will do for a normal day going to the Capitol. We found the fastest train route, but unfortunately we came to the sad realization that my commute will probably take about two hours. Once we finally got there we had lunch and went on a tour of Catholic University. It was a simple yet super tiring day. Catholic's campus was gorgeous. I am so excited for tomorrow!!

God Bless America,
Ali

Finally!

Finally the day has come! After months of preparation, I packed all my new business shirts and dresses into the car to leave! After the six hour drive me an papa Gole arrived in Maryland at the Rodger's house. They are the nicest people ever! My new room for the next few weeks is full of hockey memorabilia (weird?) but the pool is up and running (win!). Tomorrow me and daddy-o are heading into the city to figure the train stuff out and touristy stuff. I am so excited to start at the Capitol on Friday, yet slightly nervous for the first few days. Although, I know everything will be just fine!

God Bless America,
Ali