By Brittany Held
As my alarm went off on the morning of Oct. 1, I did not know whether I would be going into work or not. The day before, Congress failed to agree on a spending plan and the government shutdown for the first time since 1996.
You might be wondering, why did this affect me? At the beginning of the fall 2012 semester, Dr. Stedman approached me and asked if I would be interested in interning in Washington, D.C. She already had a program in mind—The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. She helped me set up interviews with The Washington Center representatives, fill out my application, and get Honors College credit for my experience.
Through the help of Dr. Stedman and The Washington Center, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a Publishing Office Intern at the Library of Congress.
As an intern with the federal government, I was furloughed, not able to work during the government shutdown.
In the weeks leading up to the shutdown, I was naïve. I did not think that the government would actually stop. In our office staff meetings we joked about the possibility. As I walked past the Capitol every morning on my way to work, I did not fully appreciate that my internship was in the hands of the people meeting in that building at that very moment.
I continued on with my days as if nothing was wrong. I went to my cubicle, did my research, and went home at five each day. The Friday before the shutdown, I left work with full confidence that I would be returning the following Tuesday. I did not even think to bring my favorite jacket home.
Once the decision had been made, where did that leave me? I was left with the strangest two-and-a-half weeks of my life. Not only was the Library of Congress closed, but all unessential federal government sites were, as well. This included the National Mall, all memorials and monuments, and the Smithsonian Museums.
Unable to go to work and unable to visit most of the city’s attractions, I was left with a boring couple of weeks. For the first week I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep and Netflix. It was nice at first, but I soon got a little stir crazy. Not to mention that I was paying for this experience and internship. I was extremely frustrated when I was not able to do the work I came here to do.
I was grateful when my internship program provided the furloughed students with alternative programming. The Washington Center was able to find a way to make my down time educational and beneficial. The programming mainly consisted of speakers and professional development workshops. We talked about the history of government shutdowns and how they affect the entire country.
The people that work in the private and non-profit sectors were also affected. My roommates, public policy associates at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, were not able to do their normal duties. They usually went to congressional health hearings, but since the hearings were stopped, they could not do that. There was no progress being made in the mental health and other fields because nothing could be done congressionally.
Tourists were also affected by the shutdown. Many people travel from around the world and the country to visit the nation’s capital. With everything shut down, they were not able to experience all Washington, D.C. has to offer. During the first weekend of the shutdown, I had a friend visiting from home. I took her downtown to show her some of the sites that we could still get to, and the city was deserted. I was able to stand in the middle of the usually bustling street with no problem. This was the same street that I walk along every day on my way to work.
The National Mall is part of the National Park Service, so the Mall was technically closed, but people still walked on it. The monuments and memorials all had barriers and blockades, but we were still able to walk around them and take pictures. There were a select few people that had come out and were doing the same things as we were; there was nowhere near the usual horde of people.
As we walked past the World War II Memorial, there were honor flights going through. The situation was extremely tense. There were mounted police surrounding the opposite entrance so people would not sneak in. They would not even let people get close to the memorial. I was incredibly intimidated as a bystander. It was disappointing that I was not able to properly show my friend where I have been living and working.
The shutdown tested my resiliency and flexibility. It required me to work with a situation that I had never expected to be faced with. While the government shutdown was annoying and unfortunate, I can say that I have definitely had a unique Washington, D.C. experience.
You might be wondering, why did this affect me? At the beginning of the fall 2012 semester, Dr. Stedman approached me and asked if I would be interested in interning in Washington, D.C. She already had a program in mind—The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. She helped me set up interviews with The Washington Center representatives, fill out my application, and get Honors College credit for my experience.
Through the help of Dr. Stedman and The Washington Center, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a Publishing Office Intern at the Library of Congress.
As an intern with the federal government, I was furloughed, not able to work during the government shutdown.
In the weeks leading up to the shutdown, I was naïve. I did not think that the government would actually stop. In our office staff meetings we joked about the possibility. As I walked past the Capitol every morning on my way to work, I did not fully appreciate that my internship was in the hands of the people meeting in that building at that very moment.
I continued on with my days as if nothing was wrong. I went to my cubicle, did my research, and went home at five each day. The Friday before the shutdown, I left work with full confidence that I would be returning the following Tuesday. I did not even think to bring my favorite jacket home.
Once the decision had been made, where did that leave me? I was left with the strangest two-and-a-half weeks of my life. Not only was the Library of Congress closed, but all unessential federal government sites were, as well. This included the National Mall, all memorials and monuments, and the Smithsonian Museums.
Unable to go to work and unable to visit most of the city’s attractions, I was left with a boring couple of weeks. For the first week I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep and Netflix. It was nice at first, but I soon got a little stir crazy. Not to mention that I was paying for this experience and internship. I was extremely frustrated when I was not able to do the work I came here to do.
I was grateful when my internship program provided the furloughed students with alternative programming. The Washington Center was able to find a way to make my down time educational and beneficial. The programming mainly consisted of speakers and professional development workshops. We talked about the history of government shutdowns and how they affect the entire country.
The people that work in the private and non-profit sectors were also affected. My roommates, public policy associates at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, were not able to do their normal duties. They usually went to congressional health hearings, but since the hearings were stopped, they could not do that. There was no progress being made in the mental health and other fields because nothing could be done congressionally.
Tourists were also affected by the shutdown. Many people travel from around the world and the country to visit the nation’s capital. With everything shut down, they were not able to experience all Washington, D.C. has to offer. During the first weekend of the shutdown, I had a friend visiting from home. I took her downtown to show her some of the sites that we could still get to, and the city was deserted. I was able to stand in the middle of the usually bustling street with no problem. This was the same street that I walk along every day on my way to work.
The National Mall is part of the National Park Service, so the Mall was technically closed, but people still walked on it. The monuments and memorials all had barriers and blockades, but we were still able to walk around them and take pictures. There were a select few people that had come out and were doing the same things as we were; there was nowhere near the usual horde of people.
As we walked past the World War II Memorial, there were honor flights going through. The situation was extremely tense. There were mounted police surrounding the opposite entrance so people would not sneak in. They would not even let people get close to the memorial. I was incredibly intimidated as a bystander. It was disappointing that I was not able to properly show my friend where I have been living and working.
The shutdown tested my resiliency and flexibility. It required me to work with a situation that I had never expected to be faced with. While the government shutdown was annoying and unfortunate, I can say that I have definitely had a unique Washington, D.C. experience.
