Bonding with Classmates

Now that the semester is winding down I have noticed how close our class has gotten with each other. We are around one another all day, almost every day. We often travel as a group to and from our seminars and often eat lunch together during our breaks. I have really enjoyed learning about each other and where we all come from. I can certainly say that I have learned much from my fellow classmates. Because we all come from different parts of the country, we are all very different from each other. The lifestyles in California, Washington state, North Carolina, and New York (just to name a few) are all so dynamic. Not only have I learned more about different parts of the country, I have learned from their academic knowledge. My classmates are all highly intellectual students. Some information that I am unfamiliar with, they usually know and teach me what I need to know and vice versa. We all work well with each other to ensure that we have a successful semester here in D.C. I am looking forward to tonight because we scheduled a class dinner. Because we all have our internships today, we thought it would be fun to meet up afterwards to relax and grab dinner. We are going to Cactus Cantina, which I heard was a great Mexican restaurant. Although I don’t know if it can beat Guapos, it is a favorite of ours. I can’t wait to test out this restaurant with everyone; it should be a great time. Hopefully, this is one of many class events that are sure to come before the end of the semester. This experience of becoming closer with my classmates and learning from them has added to the reasons why I love the Washington Semester Program so much. I never thought I would become as close to everyone as I have. The seminars, my internship, and class are an integral part of the experience of the program, but because I have made some great friends it has been even better. I am truly thankful that I found this program.

Cherry Blossom Festival!

This weekend was the beginning of the Cherry Blossom Festival. The whole city puts on activities for tourists and residents to celebrate the Japanese cherry blossom trees that bloom around the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial. The celebration is a three week event that lasts until the weekend of April 9th. Every year, over a million tourists come to the city to see these beautiful blossoms. I am grateful to be here for the spring semester to enjoy the festival. My sister decided to visit me for the weekend to also enjoy the blossoms. She flew in from NY on Friday night and stayed until Monday morning. It was so hard to pack everything that D.C. has to offer into the two days that we had to tour. There were so many activities to do in so little time!

On Saturday we visited the Tidal Basin to observe the Cherry Blossoms and to enjoy the view of the Jefferson Memorial. I was surprised to see that the blossoms grew perfectly fine even with the cold weather. I was also surprised to see thousands of people outside also around the cherry blossom trees. After we observed the trees, we went to the Natural History Museum then out to lunch. After lunch, we went to the Botanical Gardens, where I visited a couple weeks ago. Even though I was recently there, they changed many of the plants they had on display. It was nice to not see the same exact exhibit twice. These exhibits took many hours to go through, so after these two museums I had to introduce my sister to the best frozen yogurt shop to boost her energy again. She absolutely loved Frozen Yo, as do I. we loved it so much we even went back the next day! Our last stop after the Frozen Yo was the White House, which she enjoyed seeing as well. On Sunday we were tired from traveling so much on the day before, but we knew we had to see as much as we could. My sister was determined to buy cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes so we waited in line for an hour just to get her some! She said it was worth the wait because they tasted amazing. Our next stop was the Newseum, which she also loved. Even though I went there earlier in the week with my class, I was excited to go again because there was still so much to see.

Ultimately, we had a busy but great weekend. I was disappointed to see her go, but at least we had this time to spend together. Hopefully, this upcoming weekend I can attend the events scheduled for the second weekend of the cherry blossom festival.

Supreme Court Argument!

Yesterday was definitely one of the highlights of my semester here in Washington D.C .We had the opportunity to attend a Supreme Court oral argument. The case was called JBD v. North Carolina. This case dealt with the Miranda rights and whether or not a police officer should consider a child’s age before issuing the Miranda rights.

The child in the case was a thirteen year old boy who was suspected in two break-ins. The police questioned him while he was at school without giving him a Miranda warning, and J.D.B. made incriminating statements. He argued that he had been subjected to custodial interrogation and that the court should take into account his age when determining whether he was in custody. Because the Miranda warnings had not been read to him he was not in custody, and the statements were used as evidence. He was convicted, placed on 12 months of probation, and was ordered to pay restitution.His lawyers argued that age should be a factor in determining whether he was in custody for Miranda purposes. But, the State of North Carolina believed it would be too subjective for police officers to make this determination. The Supreme Court was asked to determine if the age of an individual questioned by police affects whether that individual is in custody and must receive Miranda warnings?

This was a great case to sit in on because the judges were quite animated and at times became annoyed with the lawyers and one another. Justice Breyer was one justice that particulary disagreed with the lawyer representing North Carolina. Some of his statements included: "Ukrainian. He only speaks Ukrainian," Breyer continued. "Do you take that into consideration?" "Yes," Cooper answered."Then why aren't you willing to take into account an ambiguous situation?" Breyer asked."Your honor, because those are obvious circumstances," Cooper responded. In a juvenile's case, he said, "you have to think like an 8-year-old, or think like a 15-year-old."Breyer shot back: "You have to think like a Ukrainian speaker or like a person in a wheelchair!" I did not expect a Supreme Court judge to be as animated as Breyer was. He had the whole court laughing. My favorite quote from the whole hearing was when Scalia said to Breyer “Well, who reads the dissents anyway.”

Overall this was a great opportunity to see how our government really operates. I now have a better understanding of the Supreme Court and how hearings actually occur in that court room.

D.C. United Soccer Game

I attended my first professional soccer game here in D.C. to watch the D.C. United team take on the Columbus Crew. I did not anticipate this game being crazy since it was a soccer game, but I ended up being quite wrong. This was the most exciting professional sports game I have ever been to. When we got to the stadium we parked in the parking lot where all the fans were gathered. There was music playing, food cooking, and everyone was playing games. Because the weather was perfect, we got to enjoy the outdoors. About fifteen minutes before the game, we all lined up to march into the stadium together. Everyone was shouting D.C. United chants, waving flags, and wearing matching shirts. You could tell the excitement was building for the game to begin.

As we walked into the stadium, we were quite an intimidating group of people. We all marched into the fan section and began cheering more until the official whistle blew. Where we stood was about four rows back from the field. We had a perfect view of the whole field and the players. The game started off slow, neither of the teams scored until later in the game. Eventually D.C. United scored though! When they did, the crowd went wild. All the fans cheered and were throwing their drinks at one another. Unfortunately, by the end of the game I was soaked. To keep the energy alive, during half-time the fans gathered in the stadium halls to cheer more. Everyone was going wild and many were on each other’s shoulders. The game continued on with this energy and D.C. united eventually scored two goals and shut out the Columbus Crew. This win put the team in first place. Even after the game, the fans continued to celebrate. They had fireworks in the parking lot and many stayed to recap the game with one another.

I had such a great time that I would definitely go again. If anyone is ever in D.C. and there is a game, I highly recommend going. The next game is scheduled for April 9th, I hope I can make it!

Museums around D.C.

-An exhibit from the Native American Museum -The Canopy View from the Botanical Gardens

-The main fountain area

-The Library of Congress

This weekend I had the chance to do some site seeing. I was so excited to explore Washington, D.C. in this beautiful weather. My friend and I went to The Library of Congress, The Native American Museum, and The Botanical Gardens. I really enjoyed all of these and would visit them again.

When you walk into The Library of Congress the beauty of the architecture leaves you breathless. I have never seen such an ornate building. There are many columns, statutes, and artwork on the walls throughout the building. In the main building there are two exhibits to see, which include important documents and books and journals from prominent people throughout American history. They even had an exhibit of Jefferson’s library. I thought this was a very interesting display because it actually contained the real books that he owned and it was organized the way Jefferson organized his library. For the books that were burned in a past fire and were no longer available for this display, they found these books to include in the exhibit. Because we only saw a small portion of the Library of Congress I would love to go back to see the other two buildings and maybe even get a tour to learn more about its history.

I also highly recommend going to the Botanical Gardens. When you walk into the building there are vibrant colored flowers and plants surrounding you. I have never seen such beautiful flowers in my life. The museum takes its visitors through different climates and shows what plants grow in those conditions. In the desert area, they had many cactuses and other plants that grew with little water. They also displayed common plants used for medicine and food that we eat. Although these areas were interesting, my favorite part of the museum was the jungle area. They had fountains, a tree bridge, and many tall jungle like trees and flowers that grow there. To view the canopy of the jungle, they had suspended walkways for visitors to walk around the perimeter of the room. This was my favorite part because you could view the whole room to get lots of pictures. I would definitely go there again, and I hope to take my family there so they may enjoy the scenery as well.

More work...

It was a very busy day at work. Stefanie had three initial hearings all scheduled for 11am. She approached me and stated she desperately needed my help with them. So, I left for court with her at 10:00am and did not leave until 4:45pm. The first task she had me complete was to file the documents for each case. I helped her organize the documents, such as the petitions, and distributed them to the appropriate members in the three cases. The mom’s attorney, dad’s attorney, guardian ad litem, and the social worker had to receive these. It was difficult to find all these people because not all arrived at the court house at the same time. Many were discussing the other cases they have with attorneys that are assigned to those cases. The scene at court is always quite hectic I’ve noticed. Because the three hearing were all scheduled at the same time, they had to determine the order of the cases. Once Stefanie knew when the hearings would begin, she instructed me to call the social workers to inform them when to arrive. This was also frustrating because the social workers had to rush to get there, so the cases could begin. Stefanie was relieved that I had made the calls for her because she was busy trying to address the other situations at hand. I worked with her all day as though I was her personal assistant. I felt as though my assistance was very helpful to her success in managing the hearings. I overheard her tell a co-worker that I was a huge help throughout the day and that she was extremely grateful I was there to assist her. When I hear comments such as those, I feel as though I am contributing to the success of CFSA.

These cases that I assisted with were not too unique from previous ones that I’ve observed. The only one that was different was that a case concerned the matter an infant being malnourished. The infant was four months old and was six pounds. The baby had been born pre-mature and weighed four pounds. Since then, the baby gained little weight and the mother did not take the child to the doctor. I found this interesting how CFSA also handles cases where children are not properly cared for concerning food. It makes sense, but I guess I never thought about it.

Senate Hearing on the BP Oil Spill

We had our second hearing observation day today. This time I went to a Senate Hearing on the report to the President from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. This hearing was particularly interesting because it covered the BP oil spill which was a recent, devastating event. Before this hearing, I was wondering what the government and BP had planned to do since the oil spill. Yes BP had capped the leaking oil, but there is still lingering consequences from the spill that must be addressed. The senators in this hearing also had this concern, and wanted recommendations on what actions should now be taken in the aftermath of the devastation. The two witnesses, Senator Bob Graham and Honorable William Reilly Co-Chairs of the Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, stated the need for continued funding and research. Money is needed to conduct research on the environmental impacts of this horrible event both now and many decades from now. We are unable to predict the extent of damage upon the environment because of the spill, therefore research is needed to understand the effects and how to fix what the impact that it had.

Another topic addressed was the United State’s dependency on oil. The senators and witnesses agreed that the deep sea drilling industry has to continue because we are in desperate need of the oil and we get about 31% of our oil from the Gulf. Not only does this industry provide jobs, but it provides the scarce oil that we depend on. With this said, all agreed that there needs to be stricter standards for drilling to prevent such accidents from occurring. They also spoke about United States’ dependency on foreign oil. Because this source is not always reliable and oil is becoming scarcer, the Senators spoke about becoming an independent energy producer. Alternative energy methods need to be developed such as using natural gas and electric. These are better for the environment and are beneficial for the United States becoming independent. Overall, I saw this hearing as a hopeful testimony towards progress. I hope that alternative energy methods can be developed because I believe it would solve much of our problems within the United States and I also hope that the Gulf spill can be adequately addressed to protect our environment and the people that rely on the Gulf. These issues are a great threat facing our nation, so efforts to fix them are critical to us all.

Traveling Back and Adjusting after Spring Break

In my last blog I was nervous about my trip home and whether or not I would find my way. Well, I am happy to say it was a success! I was relieved because there were no delays on the metro, so I made it to my shuttle stop with plenty of time. From the shuttle, I got to the airport with at least two hours to spare. On the way home, I took a different route. From the airport I took a shuttle to the train station, which then took me to union station. From union station, I took the metro home. Before being in Washington, I never relied on public transportation to take me to and from school. I realized there are numerous ways to travel, and it is not that expensive. It was a learning experience because I had to relatively determine when I should leave school and what time I should schedule my connecting transportation. When you have not taken the train or shuttles before, it can be hard to determine how much time to leave in between each means of transportation. But, luckily like I said I was successful and had a great trip home! I guess with practice and experience traveling to and from D.C. is not so bad!

Being back at American was difficult today because I felt as though I needed a longer vacation. I miss home already, but I am excited to see what is ahead in both my seminar and internship. This week we were already assigned to attend another hearing. After this hearing we are required to write an observation paper within a week. This paper is not too difficult because it describes your personal experience of the hearing, but because I have work for my research project it might be difficult to balance this work. I have a significant amount of work to do on my research project, and I want to do the best that I can in seminar, so I hope that I manage my time well. Now that I am back, adjusted, and ready to work again, I am ready for the challenges up ahead!

Traveling in D.C.

Today starts our Spring Break! I’ve been looking forward to going home for a couple weeks now. It has been very busy here with homework, tests, the research project and my internship, so I am looking forward to relaxing a bit. Even though we are on break I still have to work on my research project. Our literature review for our paper is due the Monday we return. This part of the paper is quite long, totally around fifteen to twenty pages in length. This number sounds intimidating, but I have so much information it should not be that difficult to complete. I just have to be diligent and set time aside to complete it.

Since I am going home by plane, I have a few hours to work on the project. This is my first flight alone without any family or friends. I thought I would be more nervous than I am, but I have been surprisingly calm. I am not nervous about the actual flight, but traveling to the airport is somewhat intimidating. I am going by metro to the end of the green line. When I get off the metro, there is supposed to be a shuttle to the Baltimore airport. I am nervous that I will not be able to find this shuttle or that it will be unreliable. Once I hopefully get to the airport, I have to navigate my way to the gate that my plane leaves from. I have never been in the Baltimore airport nor have I ever had to find my way through any airport, so this should be interesting. My biggest fear is that I will miss my flight because I get lost or the metro takes too long. Trying to estimate the time it will take to travel on the metro throughout this semester has been difficult. It is often unreliable and it experiences many delays. It seems as though every other week they are having track maintenance or they are breaking down. Therefore, it is better to leave earlier, just in case, than to be late and miss my flight. If I miss my flight, I guess I will not be able to go home! I definitely do not want that to happen! Hopefully my navigation skills will pull through.

Wish me luck,
Andreanna

Expanding Responsibilites

I feel as though my internship supervisors are finally utilizing my skills. For the past few times I’ve worked, they have assigned me substantive work to do. Today, my supervisors had a light amount of work, so they directed me to speak with another attorney in the office to see if they needed any help. I found an attorney named Victoria who was relieved to give me some things to work on. The first task she gave me was to complete a 21 day motion. This is a motion issued when a child needs to be admitted into the hospital for psychological evaluation. Because the child is legally the government’s responsibility, the court has to approve the child being under the hospital’s care. For a period of 21 days the child is the hospital’s responsibility and they must take care of him/her. In the case I worked on today the child was admitted into the hospital because he became violent and bit his foster brother. Therefore, the doctors recommended that he stay in the hospital for further psychological evaluation to see why he acted in this way and how they can help him.

The motion needed to be completed by this afternoon so it could be filed for the next day. The government has a legal responsibility to complete this form within 48 hours of the child being admitted into the hospital. Within this document, consent from the mother’s counsel and the GAL needed to be documented to show that we attempted to contact them about the situation. Because I could not reach them when I called, I was able to write that there was no consent due to the fact the parties could not be reached. Even without their consent, the government is able to act because of the emergency nature of the situation. The attorney checked my work after it was completed, and she found no errors. I was very excited to hear this.

Because I did so well on the 21 day motion, Victoria gave me another assignment to complete. I had to draft a Permanency Hearing Order for her. Once explained to me, I had no problem it. She specifically stated that I did not have to stay later than usual to complete this, but I was determined to finish it before I left. I stayed for an extra half hour, and Victoria noticed this. She was appreciative of my hard work and dedication. I am glad she saw this because I want to set a good example of my hard work ethic. Overall, I am learning so much at my internship and I’m really enjoying the work. Hope it continues!

-Andreanna

P.S. I’m attaching a photo from our trip to The White House this week!