2012 has been a whirlwind of a year for myself. I spent this spring in Perugia, Italy through the semester abroad program with the Umbra Institute. While living in Europe, I was able to travel all around Italy by train and bus and also visited Spain, Romania, Germany, and Switzerland by plane. All of my travels this spring helped me become more independent and made traveling around DC by bus and train much easier. My daily commute starts with a bus ride from Georgetown University to Dupont Circle. Georgetown provides a free bussing service to several areas around Washington conveniently named the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS). From Dupont Circle, I jump on the Metro using the Red Line to Chinatown and then the Green Line to the Navy Yard. The Department of Transportation is right across the street from the Navy Yard station. I also traveled to my hometown of Montrose, PA one weekend because two of my friends were marrying each other. That trip consisted of a train from Union Station to Philadelphia then Philly to Lancaster. I have a conveniently placed girlfriend in Lancaster so we made the 3 plus hour drive up to Montrose on Friday night arriving home at around 11:30 PM totaling in a 10 hour trip. Two days later, I did it again in reverse.

So this year has been full of travel which has helped me grow personally. Plus now I can confidently travel to any place I want...or at least can afford!

As I mentioned in my last post, the students enlisted in the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES) and the Institute on Economics and International Affairs (IEIA) attended the Walter Judd Freedom Award Ceremony where Mary Anastasia O'Grady and Ambassador Otto Reich received the award for their work for the promotion of freedom in Latin America. Ms. O'Grady has a weekly column in The Wall Street Journal depicting recent news and events in Latin America. In her acceptance speech, she described the idea of freedom and what it meant for people in not only Latin America but around the world. She heralded the courageous efforts of her sources in Latin America to consistently provide her with detailed information of what was currently happening. This exemplifies the powerful effects of information and a free press. It reminded of a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Ms. O'Grady also stated that given the previous recipients of the award, she did not quite feel she deserved the award but felt very humbled that she was selected as this year's recipient.

Amb. Reich was Ambassador to Venezuela under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush from June 1986 to July 1989. He also briefly served as Assistany Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in 2002 under President George W. Bush. He discussed the meaning of freedom through the story of his own life. Amb. Reich recanted the story of coming to the shores of Florida on a boat as his family escaped from Cuba under the Castro government. Reich later enlisted in the United State military and eventually was a high level public official in the U.S. government. His personal story seemed to perfectly exemplify the American story. Amb. Reich echoed Ms. O'Grady's comments about receiving the award and expressed equal humility.

Thanks to the fantastic staff at Lebanon Valley and specifically my History advisor, Dr. Michael Schroeder, I have discussed the history and current structure of Latin American politics. Some of the questions that these two individuals were asked regarded United States foreign policy towards Latin America. Both Ms. O'Grady and Ambassador Reich adamantly defended the policies of the United States and said that newspapers (specifically The New York Times) did not accurately report the actual events of what happened in Latin America. Amb. Reich believes that most professors in the United States are the last believers in Marxism and will ignore the realities of Communism in order to express the idealism of the theory. I do not wish to criticize these highly distinguished individuals but I think another perspective should at least be given. I contacted Dr. Schroeder after this award ceremony and asked him to comment on the opinions expressed by Ms. O'Grady and Ambassador Reich. Dr. Schroeder graciously provided me with two links about this area: American involvment in Nicaragua, http://www.sandinorebellion.com/images/MJS-ThirdWorldQurtly-2005.pdf and in Guatemala, http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/toc.html.

On a lighter note. I also attended two Washington Nationals games this past weekend: Friday with students in TFAS programs and Saturday afternoon with a friend from LVC. On Sunday, two of my roommates and I went to the Air and Space Museum to watch The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX.

Dylan

This past week has been another jam-packed schedule. I was very fortunate to be able to visit the State Department on Tuesday and get an hour presentation by an Under Secretary. She described the future of the United States foreign affairs and how Secretary Clinton has been an active influenctial actor abroad. Last week, Sec. Clinton became the first Secretary of State visit Laos since the end of the Vietnam War. This particular action has personal significance to me because my roommate for my first two years at LVC, Michael Kue, is of Laotian descent. Recent news regarding US-Laotian relations was the death of General Vang Pao in January 2011 who led a CIA backed force during the Vietnam War. Clinton has also visisted over 100 countries since her appointment to head of the State Department.

 I have been talking with many employees with MARAD and learning about the extensive details surrounding the maritime industry. I believe I will be speaking with the head of the Martime Administration soon and am very excited to hear his perspective on marine shipping. The topic of discussion with all of these helpful people has been MARAD's role within the industry and the possible implementation of a National Freight Policy. The recently passed Transportation bill (that the LVC student body and recent alum will be happy to hear that the student loan rates were kept at 3.4 percent) includes language for the adoption of a National Freight Policy so it will be interesting to see how the implementation of this policy progresses and how the maritime industry works as a part of this system.

I had another great weekend as my uncle from North Carolina came up to visit. We toured American University on Friday afternoon to learn about their Masters of Public Administration program and went to Old Towne Alexandria for dinner at the Gadsby's Tavern where (supposedly) George Washington and other founders ate. On Saturday, we went to Arlington National Cemetary to pay tribute to those who has served our country. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There was something very symbolic about the ceremony as a light rain came down during the ritual and stopped just as the new guard took watch. Within seconds, a rainbow grew out of the horizon across the entire sky.

Tomorrow night, all students in the ICPES program are attending the annual Walter H. Judd Ceremony where The Fund for American Studies honors a distinguished leader with the Walter Judd Freedom Award. The award is given to individuals who have advanced the cause of freedom in the United States and abroad. TFAS will be honoring two recipients this year for their work on Latin America issues: Mary O'Grady, Editorial Board Member and Columnist for the Wall Street Journal and Ambassador Otto Reich, former ambassador to Venezuela. The event will be held at the Mayflower Hotel in the Colonial Room. I will report back on how this event and the rest of my adventures here are going.

 Dylan

I arrived in Nashville, TN one week after finishing finals.  I spent my first week amazed at how the music and entertainment industries work.  Right off the bat I was introduced to the executive producers for Taillight Productions as the Personal Assistant to Stephen Shutts and Robert Reynolds.  Stephen and Robert are the stars of a new TV show that will be airing in early spring 2013 and Robert is in the Grammy Award winning band, the Mavericks.  Taillight is the company that is producing the show, which was picked up by CMT.  Although I cannot go into detail about what is being discussed at these meetings, I can say that we have basically created the story board for the show.  Since that first week, we meet with the producers every Tuesday and Thursday morning dealing with the show and other aspects about it like clothes and apperance.

 Aside from meeting with the TV show production team, we meet with Music City Networks (MCN) in order to create the proper social media, merchandise, and website for the show.  After several meetings with them, we figured out what merchandise we wanted to sell, web designs, and how to deal with social media.  MCN is a company that covers all of those things unlike many merchandise companies.  

 Other then these meetings, my job consists of helping my boss manage a new artist, Ty Bates, I keep schedules for both Robert and Stephen, take phone calls, and help out in any way I can.  I have realized that networking is one of the most important ways to be successful.  For example, through CMT I was able to go to the CMT CrossRoads, which is a television show produced by Taillight.  At this concert/show, I sat next to a kid who I became friends with and later found out he worked with Sara Evans, a huge name in country music.  Through my boss I have met producers, publishers, and various key persons in the Industry like Scott Borchetta.  Once I started being around these people all the time, I started to realize that they may be key in my success one day, aside from becoming good friends of mine.

 My boss, Stephen, introduced me to a new artist, Stephanie Quayle.  I started working for her because I really believe in her music and her message.  What we began working on is a proposal/presentation in order to gain funds to book a radio tour, sponsorships, tour dates, etc.  This, we hope, will be the push she needs to really start her career as a musician.  So, currently we are working on loads of research in order to put our presentation together. 

 The next few weeks are going to be extrememly busy because we start shooting the TV show on Monday. 

In comparison to most summer internships that start June 1 and end in the beginning of August, I started mine immediately after my finals and ended the internship in the beginning of July. So instead of blogging while I am there, I'm going to sum up my experience there by the 6 weeks and focusing on different aspects of the hospital that made my experience absolutley amazing.

After finishing my finals at LVC, I went home for a day and then made the long 5 hour drive out to Pittsburgh. I moved all my stuff into my apartment and ventured around the Shadyside neighborhood where I stayed while out in Pittsburgh. Over the weekend I met up with some family and friends and just got comfortable with the area that I would be living for the next 6 weeks.

The following Monday I went for my orientation at The Children's Institute. The Children's Institute is a rehabiliation hospital that is located in the Squirrel Hill part of Pittsburgh. The hospital was only 5 minutes from my apartment so it was an easy commute. My orientation was kinda overwhelming- going over all the rules and regulations of the hopsital mainly the department that I would be working in. I worked in the department that was titled Developmental Play and Activities. This area of the hospital was an additional aspect to the patients actual medical treatments that they would recieve. I worked in the pediatric wing and the kids would have PT and OT all day long. Our job was to plan activities to make their stay in the hospital more enjoyable. 

 Within the next few weeks I'll focus on some of the things that stood out to me and made my time at the Children's Institute one that I will never forget and that helped me prepare for my future working the field of pediatric medicine :)

Although this is my first entry, I have been living in Washington, DC since June 10. The Arnold Internship Grant helped immensely in helping with my living costs while staying here. I am interning with the United States Department of Transportation under the Maritime Administration. The mission of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) is to promote the marine commercial industry through United States shipping, marine transportation, and the marine workforce whether through manufacturing or shipping. Additionally, MARAD administers the Maritime Academy through attempting to provide a venue to graduate in order to become an officer on a U.S. Flag ship. I have been able to work with members inside the Office of Safety, Environment, and Security. This has allowed me to be involved in research topics including areas such as expansion of Arctic shipping, maritime security in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, updating MARAD’s research internet hub, and many other areas.

I have had many opportunities outside of interning at MARAD as well. I have the special privilege of being part of the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES) through The Fund for American Studies (TFAS). Through TFAS and ICPES, I am currently enrolled at Georgetown University. I am taking 3 classes this summer: Comparative Economic Systems, Constitutional Interpretation, and Public Policy Internship Seminar. We just finished Comparative Economic Systems this past Thursday and will begin Constitutional Interpretation tomorrow night. We also have scheduled lectures every Tuesday night. So far, we have heard from Paula Dobriansky who served as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs from 2001-2009 and Ambassador Terry Miller who currently works for the Heritage Foundation. Dobriansky spoke with us regarding the future of United States foreign policy and Miller discussed Heritage’s Economic Freedom Index.

Outside of work and class, I have been able to see our beautiful nation’s capitol. I have visited the National Mall and the monuments including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the recently added Martin Luther King Memorial. The Smithsonian museums present a wonderful opportunity for citizens to learn about history, art, and culture. I would recommend a trip to the District of Columbia to anyone who is considering it. My family visited me this past week for the Independence Day festivities. We enjoyed the Independence Day parade and were awestruck by the fireworks on the mall as we sat underneath the Washington Monument. I was definitely overwhelmed with pride in my country as a “U-S-A” chant started after thousands of people sang the national anthem on the National Mall. I felt very lucky to be able to share this experience with my family as well.

I only have 4 more weeks left before I move back home and I plan to enjoy every minute. Here are some pictures from my time here