10 Things Ever Intern Should Know

Since I have been around the internship block a few times, I feel as though I am an expert. Yeah right, but here is what I have learned while interning.

10. You Are Not Paid (Usually)
You are an employee, but your boss understands that you are a student and have a life outside of his or her office. If you have a big test coming up, ask to take a day or two off. Are you going crazy from staring a windowless wall? Take a walk through the galleries (I call that “looking for inspiration”). Do not be afraid to ask for some personal time.

9. You WILL Get Close to the Other Interns
I don’t know if it’s a rule, but interns are always in one central location. Be it the fishbowl or a cubicle that has four of you in it, offices group all their interns into one area, and it is usually small. You maybe next to a finance intern, a legislative intern, a curatorial intern, or whoever. Get to know them because you will be bumping (literally) into them all the time. As a bonus you can all gripe about the work you are doing.

8. Take Any Chance to Rub Elbows
NETWORK! If your boss asks you to go to lunch, go! You may have no money (order water and soup) but these opportunities are the best to learn. You can get inside info about what your boss is doing. You can also get to know your boss. If you are strictly in a work relationship, that reference letter is going to mean nothing. Besides, you are going to want to get out of your cubicle at some point.

7. If You Want to Sit Around and Do Nothing— You Can!
Your boss is busy. He or she may give you a task then forget you were in today. If you want to sit in your cubicle and read Perez Hilton all afternoon, how will they ever know? I am not actually encouraging this behavior, but sometimes its fun to be mindless for awhile. But it is not a good daily work ethic. The opposite holds true as well. If you want to be an eager beaver and tackle a week’s workload, just make sure your boss sees you doing it!

6. Pull the “But I’m an Intern” Card
You are not paid to be perfect, hell you probably aren’t paid! You are intern­— use this as an excuse. People understand that you are there to learn, and they are more than willing to teach.

5. Revel in the Random
Interns usually get the spur of the moment work. Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it sucks. The important thing is to try to see the bright side of every task. Taking the Senator’s dry cleaning in­­– be happy that you aren’t stuck in a windowless cubicle. Have to make decorations for the office Christmas party– turn on the Christmas tunes and string that packing peanut garland!

4. You Are in the Classroom
Presuming that you are taking the class for credit or at least experience— remember that you are there to learn. This is very difficult to remember when you have spent the entire week doing data entry. Sometimes you have to create your own educational opportunities. Ask your boss about their work, what they are working on, and their biggest challenge since being in the position. You may be bored out of your mind with your job, but he or she may be doing something interesting. Bonus points for seeming engaged!

3. There Are No Universals
Just because you were taught to never start a press release with a verb does not mean that will hold true anywhere. Each office has its own set of rules and ways of doing things. Do not walk in thinking you know everything, but don’t walk in stupid either. Make mistakes because those tracking edits on your release is the only way you will learn your offices style.

2. You Aren’t Going to Remember Everything, So Write It Down!
When I was taking the Milwaukee Art Museum internship for credit I had to write a journal entry about the work that I was doing. Well I never actually saved any of those entries; there wasn’t really anything of substance in them anyway. When I had to go and write 12 page reflection, I could not remember anything. The days really do start to run together. You will always remember the big projects, but that is not entirely what your internship is. If you attempt to write down a work log, like Sheena Carey the intern coordinator told me to do, you have everything ready for your next interview. You can prepare examples so you do not look like a fool scrambling to answer “What did your average day look like?” Trust me you won’t remember

1. Sometimes You Have To Do the Shitty Jobs (Literally)
You are an intern for one reason alone— you are doing the work that no one else wants to do. And you are doing it for free, or if you are really lucky you may be making minimum wage. The work you are doing needs to be done, but it may not be all that important. There will be the days that you have to update media lists which means hours on Cision, or walk the Senator’s devil dog that likes to nip at you when put his leash on. The important part is to grin and bear it. The happier you are when doing the meaningless tasks, all the better the more important jobs will seem. And everyone loves someone wearing a smile.

Why I Treasure the Treasure State

So due to issues with blogspot, I have not posted in a while. So a few things have happened since then but mostly I started my internship!

I know nothing about Montana, honestly zip. But I think I have learned more than anyone has ever wanted to know about the state. My day to day duties consist of watching 8+ hours of Tivoed Montana news broadcasts: Billing, Great Falls, and Missoula. Yes, that's right 8 hours of what Montana calls headlines. I watch the news and write up a summary that is printed for the Senator and emailed to the office. I have been saving some of these newsworthy stories and thought I would share them with you. My notes are in italics:

The Montana state Senate (which only meets for 4 months every 2 years) had its second reading of Senate Bill 87 which would make wearing a seat belt mandatory. The Bill must have one more uncontested reading before moving to the House. We are in 2009 and Montanans don't have to wear their seat belts? This is coming from a state that 2 years ago you could still have an open container in your car. According to other interns in the office it was common practice to drink and drive to and from college.

A couple from Oklahoma moved into a cabin in Helmville in November. They did not have sufficient supplies and were caught off guard by a winter storm. Neighbors found the couple in the cabin in mid-January. Mickey Charlene Davis froze to death and Jack McWhorter, her common law husband nearly starved. Jack McWhorter plans to move back to Oklahoma.

Outdoor Report: Wolverines are apparently quite the land travelers. "Oh what a lovely countryside. Wait, what's that? Oh my God, its a wolverine, run!"

Motorists along a busy highway called Marshall police Saturday complaining that it was difficult to see Robert Craig riding a white horse during a snowstorm along the side of the road. When police found Craig he appeared drunk and had to be detained. He was cited with a DUI and his horse was left outside the police station until Craig sobered up. No comment

Besides watching the news I also have to do news clips for the Senator. Our 8 Montana offices go through their newspapers send in the best articles. I then sort them by Montana's Big Four: the 2 Senators, the 1 Representative, and the Governor— the whole state is run by 4 people yet we still need 8 offices to reach the entire population of under 1 million. I then make copies for the Senator so he can have them with lunch and distribute 18 more copies to everyone in the office. For a state that is very eco-conscious going paperless is not a priority.

Other than the mundane, I do get to go and do some Capitol Hill activities as well. I have been able to attend a hearing, go to a press conference, and am helping the Deputy Press Secretary with redesigning the website. Finally, those design classes are coming in handy.

This week is going to be a big one with the economic stimulus package going through. Mondays I have class and am not in the office. But all day today I was receiving emails about how interns were needed to run amendments to the Senate floor. Hopefully that will be me tomorrow!

History Happened

The 57th Inauguration happened 2 days ago, I am aware that I am late for posting this. I had to digest and relax from the events. Here is what I could remember...

The opening ceremony was positively incredible. I think it was the highlight of those three days. Dr. Carter had rearranged the schedule so we could attend together. Old Dr. Carter, he is at least mid 60s, walked all the way to the Washington Monument with us, jumped off a wall, and hopped a fence. Mind you, by the time we got there it was Dr. Carter and 3 of us students. The rest of the group had walked ahead or got lost in the crowd. The concert was amazing; never in my life can anyone say they saw Stevie Wonder and Bono perform at the same time. The acts could not be outdone. But what was more interesting was the mood of the crowd. You could feel something in the air, I think it was excitement or just anticipation for Tuesday. And everyone was happy.

Monday was our first day off. It felt so great to not have to wake up! My roommates and I went to check out the Eastern Market, a farmers market a few blocks away. We bought the coolest Obama tshirts, I will post a picture of them. We then rushed home to get ready for the Marquette reception at the Center. We were at least 15 minutes late for working coat check. And that is just the beginning of the hell.

The reception had 300 people RSVP. And 500 showed up in the first hour, the hour that 5 of us were working the coat check with no instruction on how to set it up. I spent an hour getting ready only to be running floor length minks up and down the stairs in heels. I was hot and sweaty when I was finally relieved. That worked out great when I went to mingle with Wisconsin congressmen and the president of the University. I met the mayor of Milwaukee, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, and tons of young Marquette alums. There were even 5 different generations of Alpha Chis there. Way to rep in DC! After stuffing myself with cheesecake lollypops I took another shift at the coat check and then left, exhausted.

The next morning my friend Zac, who was staying in my room, had left at 5:30. Because we didn’t have tickets, my roommates and I left at 9. Down the block, over the walls of 295 expressway, through the blue ticket line (people were not happy), wading through HUGE crowds, and over the river we go….
It took us 2 hours to get 30 feet in front of the Washington Monument. I cried when we got out of the crowds, but I didn’t cry during his speech which I was surprised. It was a somber speech, but it was history. The crowd was chanting “Obama,” people were hitting drums, and people were in trees and climbing Porta Potties.

I could have only made it out of there with a sense of humor. The crowds were pressing. There was no where to move and we had army men telling us to go in 50 different directions from on top of Hummers, but you could not move at all. People were getting very angry. I really thought something was going to go wrong. We made it through 3 tight squeezes and got home in 2 and half hours, it should only have been a 20 minute walk. We had to walk a few blocks out of the way to avoid the Metro stops. All the Metros were closed because someone fell on the tracks and died. That meant there was no way out of the city, the bridges and Metro were both closed for 3 hours. I am still shocked there was not a riot.

What made the day all better was when Zac and I walked around the Capitol around 6. They had the whole thing under flood lights and everything was still set up. We hopped a few fences and got some great close up pictures. We were so close to where history had been made 6 hours before. Walking back we ran into people in their ball clothes, I wish I got a ticket!

I can sum up the experience as, its something I will be proud to tell my kids I was at, but it was terrible living it.

Inauguration Plans- thus far

So, as promised here is what this weekend is shaping up to be. Besides everyone who is coming out here and promised to give me a call, you know who you are Jason, John, Megan, Theresa, there are so many free things going on.

Sunday- Free concert on the mall. One of my friends cannot understand how the randomness of this concert will make it any good, but seriously he needs to a good look at his iTunes. (Hey Juliet, seriously Sean?) There are going to be some that I will just have to tune out but c'mon Beyonce and Shakira! And here is the full line up Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder. Among those reading historical passages will be Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington. Whew! We are going as early as possible, temperature dependent, gates open at 8 and the concert is at 2.

Monday- The Center is hosting a party for the Marquette big shots who will be in town. In the exchange for working coat check for an hour, I get to enjoy cocktails with University President Fr. Wild and some important alumni in the area. Oh and Jason Rae somehow used his connections to get a ticket too. Apparently being the youngest member of the DNC can buy you into your own University's party. So proud Jason.

Tuesday- Bundling up and getting to the Mall before it gets too crowded. I haven't gotten a ticket yet so I am not going to hold my breath. This way I don't have to go through security and wait around all morning. The Mall will have screens and food. One big party. I am planning on buying the most obnoxious shirt I can find. CVS has the best I have seen so far.

One cool thing that did happen at the Library of Congress was we had a presentation by a man who has some connection to the program or another, who is in charge of tracking the Bible that Obama will be sworn in on. It is the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used during his first swearing because his family Bible had not made it to D.C. yet. This thing is going to have Secret Service and two people from the Library with it at all times. And apparently it is so small that Lincoln had to keep it open because if he didn't his hand would have covered the entire thing.

Another thing that the guy told us is that Obama's official name will be Barack H. Obama. Just a tasty presidential tidbit.

Wednesday- Yes, the madness continues to the day after! First off, its my first day at my internship which is just as exciting for me as the inauguration. Also, MU women play Georgetown so the Aspin kids are invited for dinner and the game hosted by the alumni club out here. Making connections, rubbing shoulders, so is life on the Hill. And I am loving it.

I don't know how I am going to handle all the people who will be here. Security will be tight and so will bathrooms. No one is really sure what is going to happen but everyone is very excited.

Cold Front Moving In

I am writing this in a sweater with a blanket wrapped around my freezing body. D.C. should not be 20 degrees. Sorry to everyone out in the Midwest, trust me I am feeling for you.

A barrage of museums, they are slowly starting to become a blur but I will try to differentiate between all of them. We had our first tour of the Capitol. Everyone was looking forward to seeing where we would be working starting next week. Unfortunately, we had the tour guide from hell. This man was not happy with his job, and it started with screaming us into 3 lines in a semi-circle and it did not go up from there. This is my plead to everyone who will ever tour our nation's Capitol, please schedule a tour with your representative's office the tour guided ones are terrible.

After hitting rock bottom the only way to go is up. And the Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery. An absolute must see. The works may not be as famous as some of those in NGA, but they are very easy to relate because well duh they are from our country. They have two great pieces from Nam June Paik, an extremely renowned video artist who has a piece in the Haggerty and MAM. But his pieces here were something I have never seen before. I will try to post a video I took of them. And bonus Dr. Carter was a close friend of his so I got to brown nose a little when I commented how much I liked it. Paige-1. The portrait gallery has so many historical images and they even have little comments next to them so you know who you are looking at.

Today, we went to the Kennedy Center for Preforming Arts. Try to wrap your mind around a place that has 6 major theaters in it, including an opera house, a symphony hall, a children's theater, and, of course, is gorgeous inside. And everyday they have a free performance, and not like a rehearsal, an actual scene from the opera or whatever. Found a place to take the parents.

Next we went to my backyard, the Library of Congress. Nice marble, cool frescoes, but not much else to see. A lot of it is off limits. Still cool to say I was there. And once I am an intern I can get into some of those off limits places. And another cool thing to say I attended was the Smithsonian Annual MLK Lecture. It was um... interesting. At least I can say I attended a lecture at the Smithsonian.

Only a few more days of this crazy class then its time to start supporting Max Baucus, which by the way in the past four years has had a motorcycle accident (hopefully not a Harley), fell while running a 50 mile ultramarthon, and had a pacemaker put in. I think that this 63 year old needs to settle down.

I Made It

After what seems like months of waiting I finally arrived! It may have taken a little ordeal at O'Hare. How could both my bags be over by 5 pounds? A quick, but frustrating reshuffle of my suitcases and I was able to get them to 50 and 49.5 pounds each. Yes! Now I just have to wait for a few pair of shoes and a winter coat to make there way via Fed Ex.

DC has been good to me from the start, I met Hilary who is also attending the Center while I was waiting for my luggage. I was really lucky that she friended me on Facebook before we left because her aunt and uncle picked us up from the airport and drove us to the apartment. That's $40 for cab fare that I was able to pocket right off the bat! And then it was gone. I have been preparing myself for the sticker shock that I was warned about, but stuff is expensive here.

The Center has kept us very busy starting Sunday night with an introduction and class, all this week I am taking Arts in a Democratic Society. I thought I was going to have it easier than everyone at Marquette. Boo. We have been going to museums and having discussions from 9 until 8 every day. Yes, it is interesting (I can thank my internship at the Milwaukee Art Museum for giving me a background so I at least sound like I know the difference between a Cezanne and a Degas) but it is exhausting walking and writing papers. The teacher is Dr. Carter, an ethics teacher at Marquette. For all you Marquette people, he is the one who founded the Haggerty Art Museum. This little old man knows quite a bit about art. He is the president of the National Aesthetics Council, vice president of the International Aesthetics Council, curator at a Chinese Art Museum, and sits on a smattering of museum boards. Who knew this guy is at Marquette? He has been able to give us a adept view and back stage passes to a few Smithsonians. And he is super cool because he is cutting class short on Sunday so we can attend, and I quote, "A highly cultural event." What he really means is he is allowing us to cut class to go to the inauguration concert, including (the short list): Beyonce, John Legend, Shakira, Miley Cyrus, Bono, Stevie Wonder, and headliner Bruce Springsteen.

The city is abuzz with the inauguration, but everyone in the building is not really sure our set plans. Tickets are hard to come by but I am still trying. I will make sure to post on my plans next. I miss everyone, but thank the Lord have been too busy to feel any homesickness yet. I look forward to hearing from all of you. Keep watching I promise to post a few times a week.