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My Lafayette Experience
SARA WALTER ’09
Photography by David W. Coulter
Sara Walter ’09 interned this summer in the Washington
office of U.S. Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District. Stipends from endowments established by Bill Kirby ’59, Frank Phifer ’72, and the
Class of 1974 to support internship opportunities helped make the experience possible. Before the internship she spent a week at an Institute for Humane Studies seminar and some time on vacation with her family. Here are excerpts from Sara’s journal.
Probing Liberty and Freedom. June 18
After a week of thinking and debating, I am physically exhausted, intellectually stimulated, and academically enlightened. My peers in my academic adventure came from Pakistan, France, Canada, Iran, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Bulgaria, Mexico, Sweden, and most of the United States. I have debated and discussed whether equality and liberty can coexist perfectly on the same quad of grass at Princeton University made famous by a game of Go in the film A Beautiful Mind. Truly, it has felt like more than a week: the amount of learning I have done has made it seem like I have spent an entire semester. The motto of the Institute for Humane Studies’ Summer Seminars is “Sleep Less. Think More.” They weren’t kidding.
The Institute for Humane Studies is associated with George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. It provides scholarships and opportunities to students through internship stipends, scholarships in journalism and filmmaking, and summer seminars, such as the one I attended. . . .
About 80 students from around the world attend each week-long seminar, with several prominent faculty members from U.S. colleges giving lectures on what liberty means and how classical republican theory can be adapted to today’s most hot-button issues. These professors come from a range of disciplines in order to provide several different viewpoints on the same premise. At my seminar, titled “Exploring Liberty: Freedom and the Pioneer Spirit,” five extraordinary faculty members conversed with students freely, offering suggestions for further reading and avidly listening to our opinions and life goals. . . .
“I come away energized intellectually”
Nowhere else in my experiences have I been able to go into such intellectually stimulating conversations. Discussions ranged from the merits of mutual aid-based charity versus a federal welfare system, to whether one person’s right to life can be more important than the right to security of an entire community or society in terms of capital punishment and life imprisonment without parole. Routinely, these discussions would extend into meals and social hours. During these discussions with peers and faculty members I have made some of the most important intellectual gains in years. Learning should not be just reading a book or hearing a lecture: to truly understand a concept, it is essential to verbally explore it with those of both dissenting and assenting viewpoints. It is one thing to hear a lecture discussing mutual aid societies instead of federal and state welfare; it is entirely different to hear the personal stories of people all around the world who have experienced both forms of charity, and hear their views of what is the utopian solution to the issue at hand. Although it cannot be said we ever found the truly utopian solution, we used our collective energies to explore possibilities: perhaps someday, these possibilities will materialize into the solution we spent so much time yearning for and contemplating. . . .
I come away from my week at Princeton energized intellectually. In a few short weeks, I will be interning for Congressman Charlie Dent in Washington, D.C. The IHS has given me the chance to think critically and examine political theory and ideas that will most certainly play a part in my experience in D.C. Hopefully, I will be able to transfer my enthusiasm for exploring issues such as health care, welfare, and the protection of rights
to my tasks on Capitol Hill.
Eyeing D.C. from the Outer Banks. July 4
As the seagulls cried and the storms blew sand and water in horizontal rivulets across the yard, I was given the chance to reflect upon both past and future while vacationing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my family. I have always been a voracious reader, and for me it is always an energizing experience to catch up on some reading for pleasure while on vacation. For this vacation, I tried to center my reading around the theme of government and how it can be changed to better serve the interests of the public. I managed to read Dependent on DC by Charlotte A. Twight, one of the books I had received at the seminar at Princeton, as well as
The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh.
The calm of North Carolina, albeit rainy many of the days, was the perfect opportunity for me to sit and enjoy the outdoors while simultaneously enlightening myself to ideas and viewpoints which will undoubtedly play a role in my internship. I was able to look at the calendar and see just how close I am to moving to D.C. and beginning my adventure in the capital. This thought is both scary and exhilarating. Although I have lived independently before, it has always been in a semi-structured environment, and never alone in such a large city. However, the more I read about politics, the more anxious I am to be in a place where the important decisions so many books are based upon are made, every day, in the very square mile where I will be working.
New on Capitol Hill. July 12
The setting sun ignites a stream of windows in fluorescent glory, creating a skyline of overachievement in which it isn’t unusual to work over 11 hours a day. The commuters straggle along the sidewalk, with many women holding their high heels and power-walking in slippers and flip-flops, feet becoming casualties in a city in which everything is within walking distance and only the exact number of miles that distance entails differentiates between the White House and the Capitol.
My first week in D.C. |
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| Frank Phifer '72 (L-R), Dan Martini '07, Sara Walter '09, Matt Harakal '05, and Congressman Charlie Dent. |
has been incredible. As someone who grew up in a rural area, where the amount of farmland is greater than that used for residential and business purposes, coming to a land of skyscrapers and millions of commuters was, to say the least, an adjustment.
As an intern in Congressman Charlie Dent’s office, I have been completing tasks that may not seem so glamorous: sorting the mail, drafting letters to constituents, sorting faxes, and running documents to other offices. However, I am finding that these seemingly insignificant tasks allow me to learn the most. I have been able to grasp an entirely new view of various issues and have had my eyes opened to legislation I never even knew was being considered by reading constituent mail. Who knew there was legislation about fisheries and pilot retirement age in a society in which Fox and CNN discuss little other than the Voting Rights Act and the Federal Marriage Amendment? At the office, I am constantly exposed to not only constituent and media views, but also those of the legislative directors. There is little I have enjoyed more here in D.C. than listening
in on staff discussions regarding key issues being debated on the floor. They are passionate about what they do, with their voices rising and falling, describing alternatives and policies to the most pressing problems of the day. Ofttimes, when I head for home after a nine-hour workday, they are still preparing to buckle down for an evening of work.
“Visitors’ eyes grow wide”
I have also gotten to fulfill one of my dreams: I get to give constituents tours of the Capitol. Since elementary school, I have been capable of remembering the useless trivia necessary to give a good tour of a place. During tours have I been able to put this ability to work, and have also met people from the District who have made me feel at home just when I was starting to miss Pennsylvania mannerisms and gossip. There is an inexplicable feeling of awe and humility when you take a group into the Rotunda and realize that you are standing on over 200 years of tremendous history. In one corner stands a statue of Andrew Jackson,
the exact spot where an assassination attempt against him failed. I love watching visitors’ eyes grow wide as I tell them how a man walked up to Jackson, drew a pistol, and shot! But the pistol didn’t go off, so he took out his backup pistol, shot again, and once again the gun did not fire!
At that point Jackson used his walking cane to beat his would-be assassin until he had to be forcibly pried away from him. These stories remind me each and every day that am I not only working in an office building with an exciting agenda, but I am in a place that is engulfed in a fog of some
of the most exciting and important stories of history.
The most interesting day this week was Thursday, when the House debated and voted on reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The entire office was a hubbub of activity, with constituent calls streaming in and the congressman going to meetings, being briefed on the latest information, and talking to other congressmen. Cannon House Office Building was truly electric, and the buzzes that signal votes only added
to the aura of excitement and urgency.
Hectic! July 26
My second week on the Hill has been even more incredible and hectic than my first. With one week remaining in this Congressional session before August recess, the House is voting on a new, important piece of legislation each day, and the congressman is seemingly always in a meeting with a constituent or off to another meeting or event with other congressmen.
It’s exhilarating watching such important business being handled, and I was proud to begin to help with some of the important research necessary to make such important decisions this week. I had the experience of researching recent legislation relating to telecommunications and the Internet in response to colleges and universities. COPE, CALEA, and the Universal Services Fund are all incredibly complex topics, and I don’t profess to be an expert on them, but I must admit that when I talked to friends about what I was doing at work, I suddenly found myself being able to clearly articulate the purposes and implications of these pieces of legislation which, a day earlier, I would have had no inkling of.
“D.C. changes on the weekends”
D.C. changes on the weekends. I felt a bit like I was depriving my family, when they came to visit, a view of the District I experienced every Monday through Friday. During the workweek, Foggy Bottom is abuzz with the dark suits and ties, briefcases and coffee, of business in the financial district. Everyone walks with a purpose and destination, and nearly all are plugged into either iPods or BlackBerries. On the weekend, it becomes a shell of its former self, with only the occasional misguided group of tourists wandering in search of the White House, only two blocks down the street. The pace slows, the Metro trains empty, and the BlackBerries are, at least temporarily, put to the side in favor of the Sunday paper, with the full knowledge that come Monday morning, the hectic pace of life will once again reign.
I had the opportunity to experience a distinctly D.C. tradition. Screen on the Green is sponsored by HBO and shows classic movies on a big screen on the Mall near the National Air and Space Museum on selected nights during the year. There is no setting more incredible to watch something so ordinary as the classic musical The Band Wagon, with the Capitol looming behind the screen, lit up from its base to the Statue of Freedom, and the Washington Monument at your back. . . .
This city is one in which everyone works overtime, and everyone is always on the job or on call if needed. What is even more amazing than the hours everyone seems to put in is their enthusiasm to do their job. All the people I have talked to love their jobs, and although they admittedly would love a promotion, they are absolutely happy to stay in the position they are in because they genuinely love to be in such an exciting, challenging, and changing environment. I rarely notice, at the end of the day, that I have worked nine hours straight. Many times I find myself wishing I could just stay another hour or two to finish up a project I am working on or talk about a piece of upcoming legislation with the legislative directors in the office. This city is all about working hard, learning an incredible amount, and then taking the time out to explore
the incredible resources, activities, and places this city has to offer.
Exploring. August 8
Summer in D.C. is like hitting a brick wall! A five-block walk from the Metro, which would normally be a light refreshment, turns into an excruciating experience resulting in sweat-drenched power-suits and an insatiable urge to head for the nearest air-conditioned space. Even as the Capitol was being built in the 1800s, construction was often delayed by the unbearable muggy summers and the accompanying hordes of mosquitoes from the Potomac. The heat wave this past week seems to have stalled D.C. in a similar sense: not only has it made everyone walk a little bit slower and go outside only when absolutely necessary, but the town has slowed down due to Congress going into August recess. With the senators and congressmen in their respective districts, the atmosphere of D.C. has palpably changed, most notably on the Hill. Gone are the long lines of meetings and phone calls, only to be replaced by an endless stream of constituent mailings.
Recess has given me the opportunity to explore more of D.C. after work. I have visited almost every Smithsonian museum in the District, and have found all of them to be absolutely incredible, with millions of pieces of art, artifacts, and other paraphernalia filling room after room. In the Presidential Art Gallery of the newly opened Museum of American Art,
for instance, one can see so many of the pictures I so vividly remember from textbooks. But these are the real deal! It is mind-boggling to consider that easily 70 percent of the Smithsonian’s acquisitions are still in storage. There is simply not enough space to showcase them all!
“Lafayette alumni ask, ‘What can I do for you?’”
I also was blessed with the chance of a lifetime—a private tour of the West Wing of the White House, courtesy of Lafayette grad Ben Wilmoth ’05, who works for the chief of staff. The Oval Office, the Roosevelt Room, the Presidential Rose Garden—it was surreal to see all of these incredibly important places in real life, to talk to someone who watches the President walk into his office every day. I also have gotten the chance to meet with so many other Lafayette alumni, all of whom have been so warm and inviting to offer advice and meet with me to discuss my career goals. What always surprises me the most is how all of them ask, “What can I do for you?” They are incredibly giving of time and advice. Frank Phifer [’72], Bill Kirby [’59], John Stephenson ’05, Amy Emerick ’03, Riley Temple [’71], Brent Glass [’69], and so many others have been so welcoming in a city that can be so intimidating. My first Lafayette contact actually was in Congressman Dent’s office itself. Matt Harakal ’05 is my direct supervisor. It is always kind of odd to watch the dynamic between the Congressman [who graduated from Penn State and earned a master’s degree at Lehigh] and his Lafayette staff, including Matt, fellow intern Dan Martini ’07, and I. I believe this is one of the few places where the Lafayette and Lehigh banners fly side-by-side in perfect harmony!
D.C. is one of those towns where you never know who you’re going to see in the most unlikely of places. Whether it’s a senator ordering some caffeinated beverage at a local Starbucks (of which there are an amazing 61 in the District), or a Supreme Court justice walking across the street to a meeting, the amount of power in the city is amazing. I also learned another incredible source of power in this city during a recent visit to the International Spy Museum—there are thousands upon thousands of intelligence officers just in the confines of the District of Columbia.
There is so much to do in D.C. that appeals to the budget-minded intern. There are free concerts every night at the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center, films at the National Theatre on Mondays, and plenty of lectures and demonstrations through the Smithsonian. The Air Force, Navy, Marine, and Army bands all play free concerts over the summer.
For such an expensive city in terms of dining and lodging, entertainment can be surprising low on cost but incredibly high in culture. You can hear jazz one night and see a classic film the next, with a lecture on our solar system another day.
I know I will miss this city when I leave, but I know I will take away
with me an incredible mark of experience from not only interning in
a congressional office, but also navigating the sometimes perplexing
Metro system, exploring the vast number of museums, and experiencing
a coffee shop on every street corner. D.C. is a unique amalgamation
of business, tourism, and government. I cannot think of any other city
in the U.S. which so perfectly combines these three factors into a city
which is always churning and working and moving—that is, except
when there’s a heat wave.
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“I have been able to grasp an entirely new view of various issues and have had my eyes opened to legislation I never even knew was being considered.”
“There is an inexplicable feeling of awe and humility when you take a group into the Capitol Rotunda.”
“I am in a place
that is engulfed
in a fog of
some of the
most exciting
and important stories of history.
”
“This city is about working hard, learning an incredible amount, and exploring incredible resources, activities,
and places.”
“I am grateful to Mr. Phifer and Mr. Kirby for their spirit of generosity and their contributions that helped make my internship possible and
will open doors for students in the future.
”
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