House Hearing

I have been volunteering with the Hemophilia Federation of America. This week I went to a hearing on the Hill. I really enjoyed it. I have also had the opportunity to meet a few people my age that work on the Hill and have started re-thinking my interest in working on the Hill. Anyway, I was asked to write about the event for the Advocacy Blog. Here is the link to my article. There were also two other people who testified about being under-insured. Their stories were heart-breaking. Luckily the three people affected by their lack of insurance have survived their diseases and difficulties. I am sure that this is not always the case so let’s hope that there will be some reform soon.

http://hemophiliafed.org/2009/10/16/reflections-of-nathan-wilkes’-testimony-before-the-house-subcommittee-on-oversight-and-investigations/

Pictures!

Hello!!! Here's a little photo blog of my time in DC so far. Nothing really exciting but pictures are always fun! I will take pictures of my room/apartment soon too!

National Sculpture Garden fountain

This was the bus stop outside my

house in Maryland.

The Capitol Building on a beautiful day in the city!

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My day at the National Zoo was wonderful. Beautiful animals on a beautiful day!

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I was able to show my Mom around on her first trip to D.C. This is the slightly blurry picture that I got of my parents in front of the White House as they were closing the road so someone important could get in!

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These are just a few pictures from my first march to the Capitol. It was truly an amazing day! I was one of hundreds of thousands of people marching for equality. Among the crowd was Lady GaGa, Cynthia Nixon, who gave an absolutely amazing and inspiring speech, Kristen Chenoweth, and my wonderful friend Craig.

Another one of the signs that was in this group of women said "Jesus had two Dads and he turned out ok." It was one of my favorites of the day. I was pleasantly surprised by the very few anti-equality protesters I saw throughout the day.

We made it to the capitol after a 2 mile march around DC. There were many creative cheers and signs along the way. One of the cheers was 2, 4, 6, 8 Equality in every state!

That is a quick photo summary of my time in DC. I am still looking for jobs and have some networking opportunities this month. I am not sure if I have already said this but one woman I met in September told me that contacts and relationships is the currency of DC so that is what I am doing. I went to a coffee talk on Sunday evening with a group that is interested in international affairs and I met a few people there who had some good pointers.

Love you all and thanks for reading!

New Housing, New Outlook

Hello Everyone! This one is going to be kind of short but here are a few updates on what is going on in DC.

I moved this weekend to the city. I found a place last week and made the decision to move. I am living with two women who also recently graduated from college. They went to Smith in Massachusetts. One is working for the State Department on the envoy for Middle Eastern Peace and the other is temping with a Law Firm. They are very sweet girls and I look forward to getting to know them better. This will be my new home until next September! I have my own room and basically my own bathroom. My room is huge and lacking furniture at the moment, but there is a mattress on the way! The kitchen is large and the living room came furnished which is really nice.

The neighborhood is also really nice. I went for a lovely run to the Farmer's Market and then walked to a grocery store. It was a perfect day. As I wandered I found lots of restaurants, shops, and a park. I am excited for the leaves to start changing because the walk is going to get even prettier.

It is really nice to have my housing squared away. I am going to be able to make this into a home for the next year and now I just need the job to go along with it!

I am excited for this month though! I have a few networking events with a non-profit group in the area. I am going to a coffee talk with an International Affairs group. I am going to have dinner with some relatives that I haven't seen in a long time and another few that I have only met through email. It is exciting to have plans and have the prospects of meeting new people and making new connections, both socially and (hopefully) career-wise.

I reached a lull and lacked some motivation for a little while and now I am getting excited again. I know that I can do this and it just takes time for things to come together and work out! There is just something about wandering around and looking up to see the Capitol building in the distance that is just a great feeling to have!

I hope all is well and I love you all! Thanks for reading!