Washington DC is great

Last night Nikki, Stephanie and I had the privilege of going to dinner with an amazing couple that live here in DC that are friends with Stephanie’s mom. Sally Murphy and her husband Billie took us out for a wonderful steak dinner at the historical Capitol Grille. Sally and Billie are absolutely adorable, extremely intelligent and very generous; our dinner with them is definitely a highlight of my East Coast adventure! We talked all evening about our lives, history, politics and family and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it and I truly hope I will be able to keep in touch with them!

Today we finished up the last of our meetings! At the Washington Post Online we learned some cool things about how to format a website to fit the viewer. It was interesting to try and take on the mindset of someone else and think “now what would I click on and why”. Chet Rhodes was our guide for this tour and meeting and I was refreshed by his dry humor and laidback attitude.

We ended the day at PBS with a meeting with the CEO of the company. I was primarily interested in the new technologies and ideas that were being developed for children. Being a nanny of 3 girls under the age of 5 and having a younger brother that just turned 2, children’s programming is of interested to my family, my boss and me. I was very impressed with the direction and new venues the company is working on.

Being in Washington DC this last week has been extremely thought provoking for me. Government was never a path I considered for myself, but being in this city and watching it work and buzz has peaked my interest a lot. After our last meeting today we visited Arlington National Cemetery and inscribed on one of the great stones surround JFK’s grave was the age old quote from his inauguration speech “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” I have always had a strong sense of patriotism and pride for my country, but I never thought that I had anything to contribute to it, but maybe I do.

 

-Hannah