Intern inspired by diversity in nation’s capital and variety of jobs

What a weird feeling to start emptying my desk today. This is the inevitable last week.  All I can say is wow- that sure went fast. Did I learn anything? I can answer in the affirmative.

Did I come to any life changing epiphanies and realizations? I can answer maybe. After all, I was only a lowly intern, but I tried to make the most of my time here.

For example, I learned that sometimes it takes time to adjust. When I first got here, it was hard.

Anyone who has ever lived by themselves in a new city and had a new job knows this. But somehow I got through the melancholy first week or two and took advantage of my new life.

There were receptions, speeches, meetings, press conferences, lunches, tours and, of course, boring days sorting news clips. There were the occasional printer and computer malfunction like today where the printer jammed and somehow my finger got caught in the printer and started to bleed profusely.

The score: Printer 1, Cathleen 0.

As for other life changing epiphanies it seems not getting too stressed is something I have learned. There are lots of things that can go wrong for a press intern, believe me I know (because  I have experienced Murphy’s law: anything that can go wrong will). Especially as an intern you don’t want to let anyone down, and of course there were times I that could feel my blood pressure rising. However, this is an office. It is not like we are saving lives here.

I sit in a cubicle, it is unlikely that any mistake I make will be earth shattering, permanent or would ruin lives. Not that you should take work lightly but freaking out about it- I had to give that up or I would have been freaking out constantly.

Another thing: early on I decided I would go everywhere I could possibly go in the city that was of interest. Now I’ve been almost everywhere in Washington, D.C. a regular person can see.

 I also met people of all different races and ethnicities--Mormons, Italians, Jews, Africans and people from many other groups. I learned about them and they learned about me. We all had varying views and backgrounds but in the end we all lived thrown together in this crazy place called the Beltway.

Highlights: working in the Capitol of the United States of America, seeing  Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, my co-workers, watching episodes of West Wing with my friends and recognizing places in the show, Sen. Lugar, occasional delicious free lunches and living in a big city with lots to do.

Lowlights: Kennedy Center performances where the dancers painted the floor and writhed around for hours, the trendy DuPont Circle bookstores which were supposed to be so great, going through metal detectors and searches everywhere you go, crazy amounts of sales tax and scary people who talk to themselves sitting with you on the metro.

A final lesson learned: there are so many things you can be in this world.

I met people working everywhere from soup kitchens to the White House. Someone I met at the dorm works in the Library of Congress preserving old books, someone else I met dismantles nuclear weapons.

Before, I never would have known these kinds of jobs exist. Now there are so many different jobs running through my head I could have someday--I could be an ambassador bringing peace to the world, a judge deciding Supreme Court decisions, an activist lobbying for cancer funding, a senator representing my constituency and so many other things. Coming here makes you see that: you can be something and you can make something of yourself starting as a lowly intern.