Friday, July 6, 2018
By:
Since joining the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, this is my first week experiencing Congress in recess. The office has been pretty quiet, and some days it feels like there is more focus on the World Cup than on work. I grew up in England, so football was a large part of my childhood, but since living in the United States I never watched much. That is all changing this year. Most of the staff members in my office filled out brackets for the Cup, and are having a competition to see whose choices do best.
I have a bit of a competitive nature, so I’ve gotten really into it. So far so good! I only missed two choices in the top 16 round, one of which was an insane upset by Russia taking out Spain (who many people expected to win it all)! I'm going with Croatia to win, which may be a bit of a long shot, but they have been absolutely killing it so far!
Between games, I’m keeping myself busy with various tasks for the committee. We have our upcoming Artificial Intelligence follow-up hearing next week with lots to be done for, and Sam and I have been busy planning out tour of Capitol Hill for all the other SPS interns. I’m so excited to show them what we do down here and we have an amazing schedule planned for them, including attending the Energy Subcommittee hearing, checking out Senator Duckworth’s office, riding the underground Capitol Building train, and more! There is so much beautiful history at the Capitol (a lot of which is in my Week Three blog post), I can't wait to share some of it with the other interns.
Next week we also have our tour of the Optical Society of America, a professional development workshop put on by SPS National, and a breakfast meeting with Congressman Bill Foster, and I'm sure much more!. I think next week’s activities will more than make up for a slow week this week.
As we come to the end of the week though, it’s really hitting me that the internship is already half over. I only have five more weeks to enjoy all that Capitol Hill has to offer. When I started this internship, I had planned on using it as a way to figure out if policy was really the right path for me. I graduated from The University of Maryland in May, and though I successfully completed a degree in physics, there has always been a part of me that never quite felt at place within the field. I didn’t enjoy research and lab work like most of my peers, I could not stand to work at a chalk board for hours on end, and I never felt like it offered enough consideration for human lives. I suppose this is to say that I’m not in physics for the sake of knowledge, but for the opportunity to use that knowledge to help people and make a difference. Taking a course on policy was something I genuinely enjoyed, and hoped I could make a career of.
From five weeks as an AIP Mather Policy intern, I have never felt so confident in my choice. I have thoroughly relished working with the committee, and cannot imagine a more ideal environment for my internship. Now that I have graduated, I only hope that my future career will be as rewarding and impactful.
Sarah Monk