Back at Richmond

I got an email over the weekend that I had to go back to Richmond. I have to admit that I was a bit frustrated that I had to go back but then I realized that the staffers do so much to try and stretch themselves and they had to train many interns at once so I had to be more flexible. So I went back to Richmond and I didn't regret it. My actual last day at Richmond was probably one of the most memorable days I've ever had at my internship.

As soon as I entered the building I was asked if I wanted to go to a meeting with Joe. I immediately said yes. I was so excited to go to a meeting as a district representative and I felt like I would actually learn something about the community that I was working in. As Joe and I got ready to leave he began to brief me on some of the important community members that I would meet--the one that stuck to me the most was Mrs. Perkins. Gloria Perkins, per Joe and Ryan's description, was a powerful woman in Richmond. She worked for the City Council and therefore had a lot of connections with the City which was helpful for the office I assumed. I was also told to always refer to her as Mrs. Perkins, and with that, we were off to the opposite side of the Civic Center. Joe and I both had notebooks and pens and we were given agendas as soon as we walked into the conference room. There were light snacks and a big "U" shaped meeting style filled with active senior citizens. The meeting lasted from 9-12. Which is long--but I remember being really informed and surprised that these Senior Citizens were just as active as the youth. They talked about bills, canvassing, and upcoming events that they were involved in--but most importantly they talked about how to make the issues that are important to Senior Citizens important to the Nation.

When that meeting ended many of the Senior Citizens in attendance came up to us and either commended us for all of the work we do or shamed us for all of the work we didn't do--it was interesting and a powerful experience because I got to see how people view the government.

Similar conference room to the one that Joe and I were sitting in.