Long Overdue Post

IT'S HUMP DAY Y'ALL!!!

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!  My apologies for making everyone wait such a long time in between posts, but I have been so busy  The pace in Washington D.C. is no joke.  I truly had no idea what to expect, and I'm glad I didn't set any expectations!

Expect this blog to be nothing but a bunch of disorganized thoughts... I spent all my organizational energy preparing my outline  for my policy report earlier this evening and my plans for the 1st draft of my Policy Report--not to mention that SO MUCH has happened in the last week and a half that I would bore you to death if I stated and expanded on all of my experiences since I last posted.  Feel free to skim or skip over anything in this blog post... I'd rather you skip parts than read and lose interest!

Okay, so since I  last posted on May 29, 2018 here is a (kind of, but only KIND OF) chronological list of things that have happened in my life:

• I arrived in Washington D.C.
• I checked into my single dorm at George Washington University (I still have communal stalled showers, which bring be back to Navy Times.)
• I attended a panel where I learned several ways to be successful on Capitol Hill.
• I have been to the Washington Monument.
• I have been to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.
• I've gotten lost while exercising the streets of the U.S. Capitol.
• I've driven through 2 additional states aside from Washington D.C.
• I've went and enjoyed/learned a significant amount about my cohorts during a retreat in Danville, PA.
• I created a very intimate collage to express where I've been, where I am and where I'm going

...

• I've had s'mores.
• I've learned about triggers and positive self-care in regards to how to handle said "triggers" (see attachment later.)
• I've walked past the White House (at least 5 times on the way to the Senate building)
• I've walked/ran/crawled in agony (joking) at LEAST 107.2 miles between exercise and commuting to and from work.
• I started my internship with Sen. Wyden's Senate Finance Committee
• I attended a Foster Care briefing at the Capitol building
• I signed up for my first half marathon
• The list goes on

Throughout all of this, I am continually humbled.  I have learned SO MUCH about both myself as well as so many other individuals.  I have learned more about how to process both normal as well as traumatic experiences.  I've been educated on "trusting the process."

If you know me (or even if you don't!) you know that "trusting the process" has been something I have always struggled with.  I will say outright that I have had both control as well as abandonment issues since adolescence.  I have constantly been abandoned and let down.  I have been fed false promises since a young child.  This internship has shown me that you can trust no one but yourself.

In that however, I have been taught that while you might not be able to trust anyone but yourself (because others can and will let you down eventually), you have to find a happy medium.  Life is all about relationships.  While you may not want to rely on anybody else, it is necessary. Relationships (in my opinion) are what make this world turn.

Don't agree with someone?
Get over it.
Move past it.
Focus on solutions rather than being caught up in the disagreement.

Life isn't about who you trust or don't trust.

It's about the relationships with the people you do or do not trust.  It's about learning from both your, and other individuals.  It's about working together as a cohesive team and ensuring that you identify your similarities and maximize them.

We all have been through experiences that cannot be duplicated pr mimicked.  It's what you do with those experiences that really justify and speak to who you are as a person.  It also expresses and proves what you are able to accomplish and benefit from in life and experiences.

With that; if you struggle with anxiety or stressors in life, I encourage you to take a look at the attachments I have provided from our Retreat last weekend.  I have confirmed I have permission from Debbie at C.A.S.E (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) to recirculate these documents [https://www.case.org/About_CASE.html]) regarding triggers and tools to defeat/manage these triggers.

I wish I could continue elaborating on my experiences!  Sorry for an abrupt ending, but I will post next week and provide additional feedback from my experiences!

Until then, Cheers!

Triggers

Triggers and Tools