Survived!

I made it through an entire week on Capitol Hill! It was a bit bittersweet when my colleagues from West Fargo and across the country are posting about going back to school. I miss the students and my colleagues, but this week showed me that I am in the right place.

I have an absolutely amazing mentor who is the perfect combination of patience and pushy. She shows me the ropes on a task and let me work through it, then provides feedback. When I've had a bit of practice, she teaches me something new. My charge in the office will be all topics related to Education, Science and Technology. I wrote memos, sat in on meetings, wrote LARs (Legislative Action Reports), answered constituent mail and answered the phones. For those of you that know me well, phones are my Kryptonite- no idea why, but I get super nervous when I am on the phone with anyone new. I even got to talk to my Congressman on Zoom for an hour- just because he wanted to welcome me to the team and get to know me.

There are so many amazing ideas here. There are plenty of Congressman who are trying to do the right thing- we just don't ever see it if it doesn't come up for a vote and cause a splashy headline. Seeing the good has lifted my spirits.

And the bonus to my time here in DC is that I get to hang out with 14 other extremely superb teachers who are all trying to make STEM education better. I get to hear about the work they are doing in their federal agencies or Congressional offices. We get to meet as a group for PD twice a month. One is a full day PD designed for us (what an idea!) and a second 1/2 day that we present to each other. Team Einstein Rocks!