Letter from Washington Intern Program
Greetings to all from Capitol Hill!
The Exeter hillterns have been having an exciting time here in Washington, D.C. With so many important conversations and events happening in our nation, there is no better time to be here in America's capital. From the nomination of Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, to the anti-gun violence walk outs, to the Zuckerberg '02 hearing, there is plenty going on in the political realm. This has given us a wonderful opportunity to be actively involved in civil service and political activity outside the classroom.
There is also a great deal going on in the lives of us interns! The Washington Intern Program fortunately brings in many wonderful guest speakers. We recently got to meet with Jocelyn Brown '82 at the United States Department of Agriculture to discuss her work in resilient crops, using agriculture to help rehabilitate communities and in promoting safe GMO foods. She also told us anout the significance of the USDA being founded in the midst of the Civil War, as Lincoln realized at the time that America was an agrarian society that needed a government institution to manage the many different aspects of that culture.
She spoke of her time at Exeter fondly, all over a chocolate and coffee tasting which was wonderful for a sugar and caffeine addict like myself. Overall, she was an incredibly interesting person, and we were very grateful to hear her words of wisdom over a cup o’ joe.
The interns were also able to attend an alumni event for DC area Exeter graduates. We caught up with old friends who recently graduated from the Academy, networked with Exonians from before our time and sought words of wisdom from our elders. We heard John Phillips Award winner Zachary Iscol ('97) deliver a moving speech about his life at Exeter and in the military, the importance of having real Harkness-style discourse over politics and his work rehabilitating veterans suffering from PTSD and other manifestations of war trauma. He spoke on similar topics during his fall assembly, and this speech was just as heartfelt and touching. We did not take advantage of the open bar, but we did take advantage of the cream puffs, mini tart cakes, steak and pasta salad. (Alumni events are evidently something to look forward to.)
On a more personal level, the interns dealt with both small victories and small defeats. Christian Flores gave his first tour this week. Emmett Shell and Tim Han sat in to listen to a Supreme Court case. Kathryn McCaughey briefly went to Scotland, but was unable to find her family's designated tartan. Abigail Garey has been taking a wealth of constituent phone calls for Senator Shaheen. John Woodward has been spotted multiple times by the other interns while scurrying about the House side tunnels. Bridgette Han privately escorted one of Senator Cantwell's high level constituents from Amazon. Grace Huang, Maya Robinson ('15), my mom and myself were able to get a tour of the White House, thanks to the kindness of Senator Hassan's office. I successfully transferred a phone call without hanging up not once, but twice in one day. Big things evidently are happening here in Washington.
While we are having fun on the Hill, we still have Exeter fondly in our hearts and wish you all the best from afar. Washington, DC, is a wonderful place to be to take in politics, but it is also important to be active politically at the local level, so we urge all Exonians to get involved, regardless of whether or not congressional internship is in your future.