Role Models

I had a great opportunity to have lunch with my supervisor last week and I made it a point to interview her myself for my own personal understanding of her background and how she reached the job that she holds today. Out of everything we had spoken about her biggest takeaway was that connections and communication are the most important things to have. Jeanette, my supervisor, was a Capital Scholar such as myself and was in the first group of students to intern in DC. When I interviewed her she spoke of her first internship in DC on the Hill and she had told me that from then on she knew she would one day end up in DC. From Capital Scholars she met her now husband that was working on the Hill when she was and her best friend that helped her end up in DC and gave her word about an opening in Treasury. In staying in contact with these people she was able to creating relationships in DC and attain her job. When I had asked her how she looked at resumes and how she had decided upon me for the position she told me that just in knowing who was a Capital Scholar that it helped narrow down the choice. That she then looked at the area of study but the most important thing was how I had presented myself on the phone interview and the enthusiasm for the position. From my conversation with her and how she reached the Treasury I have realized that she has become not only my supervisor but one of my future mentors that has offered me a chance to exceed even when I return back to Arizona. We spoke about my opportunities back at Treasury next summer if I so chose and that I also had the opportunity to return to DC and work for Treasury after I graduated from ASU.

On top of having a great supervisor I feel privileged to have my fellow intern that shares my office as a type of mentor as well. Someone that is in the 3L year of Law School has imparted a great deal of advice and insight to how they arrived to where they were and where I could be. I have now reached new goals since my time when I arrived in DC just by getting to know people and making connections. 

My Major Ties

I have found that many of the courses that I have taken within my majors have allowed me to understand and properly do my job in the licensing department as a intern at the Treasury Department. Having majors such as Public Service & Public Policy and Global Studies really make my placement in the Office of Foreign Assets Control a great fit. My courses such as my Contemporary Policy Challenges, which focused on evaluation and creation of policy has really helped me with writing licenses and evaluating requests. My primary work at OFAC requires that I evaluate and create licenses surrounding sanctions in other countries specifically Iran and Cuba. These can range anywhere from licenses for athletes from sanctioned countries, to museums collecting artwork, to property transactions. My required Persuasive Writing Course has been a large component to my everyday work, writing a license or evaluating a request for a license requires a lot of analysis and much of the writing I had to do for the course revolved upon analysis writing. My Thinking Globally course introduced me to new countries and customs and in many of the requests for licenses revolve upon cultural antiques and needs to bring to the United States. These requests help me realize the world outlook and the types of people that are in the United States. Overall I feel that almost all of my academic studies have contributed and helped with my internship work. It has also allowed me to feel much more comfortable with my work and allowed me to grasp why each topic that was covered in class was necessary and important for future work.

Activities in DC

This past week I was able to attend a very fun event in Washington DC. I attended the Congressional Baseball game on Thursday. It was a lot of fun and it gave me a new insight to all of our representatives. It was nice to see a side that wasn’t them in suits or them having arguments on the hill. It was also incredibly interesting to see them play on that particular day, the day the democrats had a walk out and the day that the Affordable Care Act was seen as constitutional by the Supreme Court. Whether the representatives were focusing on those particular things throughout the game it was not noticeable. Being amongst the crowd though, that is an entirely different story. The seats had been split one side of the baseball field ended up being for republicans and the other was for the democrats. It was very interesting to be a part of the large crowd of people. You had people cheering for both sides and when things began to get very stressful in the game you could hear the democrat fans stating that they needed another win for the day. Coming from a very red state such as Arizona it was interesting to be among a large group of democrats. It was also very fun to just sit and watch a baseball game in DC. The only thing that I had to complain about the whole game was that it had to fall during a week day and I ended up leaving at around the 6^th inning because of work the next day and I could not stay for the whole game. When I had left the democrats were leading and it was crazy to see that their pitcher could really pitch. Some representatives that were playing either had played baseball in school or on an outside team of some sort or were just doing it for fun but you could automatically tell which representative had played baseball before and that made it really fun and interesting. Normally I’m not a huge baseball fan but it was a lot of fun to watch representatives play at a charity game and be with friends that were having fun with it too, not to mention receiving a lot of free items such as hats made it worthwhile… especially being a poor college student and all.

Rep. Jeff Flake

I had a unique opportunity to be able to meet and talk to Arizona Representative Jeff Flake from the 6^th district. I had no idea what to expect for our scheduled visit and was amazed at the mere size of the Rayburn building when I first walked up to the front entrance. As I was walking around I was a little perplexed as to the crazy bustling of people as they quickly walked left and right around the marble walls. Once everyone from Capital Scholars had met with one another and were seated in a small room we waited a few moments for the Representative to arrive. I had conducted lots of research from his long time in politics and was looking forward to asking him questions regarding his interest in going into politics and his interest in continuing his career.

When he had finally arrived, he and two other gentlemen entered with him, at first I was a little disappointed because I believed that he would simply give answers pre-approved by his staff that followed him in or that he would not be willing to discuss everything that I had hoped to ask. It was a relief to hear though that our evening would be a very candid conversation that would be strictly off the record and that he would answer everything to the best of his ability. I found this very interesting and respectable as I know that most politicians will avoid these types of instances as to not jeopardize their position or for him his run for Senator Kyl’s seat.

Overall my experience with meeting Rep. Jeff Flake was very informative and enjoyable, he was not my representative for my district but myself having been a native Arizonan it was nice to meet with a representative that was born and raised most of his life in Arizona.

Personally my opinion to Rep. Jeff Flake is of respect not simply because he is a politician for my state but more to the point that he is a rare politician that I feel our country needs more for the success of our nation. Although he is a Republican I find it respectable that he is willing to step over his party line at times to side with a vote or opinion with that of the opposite party because of the benefits that it will bring the nation as a whole rather than the party itself. I feel that today’s politicians and people in America tend to be less bi-partisan and more willing to fight an argument simply because of a party view than the overall larger picture. This type of thinking has led to the citizens of America viewing the Congress as a detrimental part of our government which is less that disappointing to say the least because of the way the media has portrayed their stand still in most of the subjects that have been brought to the floor.

Prior to this event I had never had the opportunity to sit down and talk to a representative as candidly and openly as we were able to. It was a great glimpse into the life of Rep. Jeff Flake and more so the life of a Representative in the House. As to his politics I have no personal opinion that I wish to express in a blog but I do feel that he is a great man that cares deeply for his family, his constituents and this country and personally I feel that those are excellent foundations needed to be involved in politics. I respect what he does because as a politician he will continuously be placed under scrutiny and questioning as to his decisions for Arizona and it’s a part of the job that he had expressed you simply need to get used to.

I have never had any desire to enter politics but I did enjoy getting to learn and understand what it was like for a politician in Arizona. It will be interesting to watch as he enters the election for Senate and see what many Arizona constituents will expect and want of him. I walked away with a new outlook of both him and his job. It was a very informative and intriguing hour and a half conversation regarding his past, present and future aspirations and goals.  He took the time to answer as many questions as he possibly could due to the time restraint and was as thorough and honest as possible.

My one small complaint regarding the required meeting was that the Rayburn building is by far the most confusing building to exit once the main entrance has been closed. I have never felt as if I walked in a bigger circle than I did that evening to simply find an exit that I had passed by at least two times.

OFAC outreach

Earlier this week OFAC organized a breakfast for all of the staff located in the OFAC building to get to know the interns. Just through this breakfast I was able to get to know some key people located in the U.S. Treasury Department such as the Director of OFAC, Assistant Director of Licensing and Compliance and was able to discuss planning lunch with some attorneys that work with policy in the Treasury Department which is a large interest of mine. The Licensing department of which I am a part of has monthly meetings that allow me the opportunity to get to know the people on the same floor that work on different projects. Through these meetings I have had the opportunity to get to know all the aspects that the Licensing department is a part of in dealing with other countries with regards to sanctions.

My experience these past three weeks has been unbelievable and in this short span I have been able to branch out and create new connections and friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. I am excited to see how many more people I will have the opportunity to cross paths with. 

DC Connections

I have had the opportunity to meet so many great and amazing people in the short span of my three weeks in the DC metropolitan area. My time at George Washington University, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the city, and CrossFit Balance Gym have allowed me the chance to talk and get to know a large number of people.

Within my first two weeks of arriving in Washington, DC I was able to meet a female Captain from the United States Marine Corps that would be the Marine Officer Instructor for the NROTC at George Washington University this fall which for me was a great moment since having the opportunity to talk to very many female officers is a rare coincidence at Arizona State University. Having the opportunity to exchange contact information was helpful not only to just receive guidance from another female in the military but also discuss different aspects that the ASU NROTC does next to what GW will be doing this coming fall. Joining a CrossFit gym, called CrossFit Balance, was a great decision on my part due to the different types of people it has been exposing me to. I was able to meet an intern that was living at GW and was taking the same CrossFit class that I was in. Not only did I have a chance to meet another intern that was from Alaska but I was also able to get to know the members of the gym that work in all types of positions and areas in DC. Having locals as acquaintances allows me the opportunity to get to know some great places to eat and some local advice on places to visit.

OFAC does a great job at allowing the interns to get to know one another. The intern that shares a room with me has by far been one of the best connections that I have made this summer. Having been an intern in Washington, DC for the past three years over the summer she has given me a lot of advice on different locations to go to. Since she is a law student at Villanova Law School she has listened to my aspirations and helped me plan out the rest of my time at ASU and not only that but she has taken me to a Pro Bono Fair with her where I was able to get in touch with some lawyers in the DC area and meet other law students. As the oldest in my family it is nice to have made a connection with someone that is willing to assist me with my educational and career aspirations and listens to where I hope to end up in a few years. Through her I was able to meet with some of the law interns that are located in OFAC and through them met the other interns working on other floors. Every Friday all of the interns meet for lunch outside of OFAC and go to the food trucks together. This has allowed me to get to know the other interns from different floors and create great friendships with them as well. As a group of interns we all have organized our own BBQs and weekend activities that we can do as a group. Many of the interns that I am working with are from the DC area attending American University, George Washington University, and Georgetown and have introduced me to their friends that live in the local area. Enjoying the company of the people that I work with make my daily workdays even more enjoyable and allow me an opportunity to step out of my ASU comfort zone and meet new and interesting people.