Nov. 16, 2005

Learning in Washington

The 2005 Wesleyan in Washington students (left to right) Ben Walkuski, Amanda Husted, Kristen Cook, Jason Ramsey, Dale Stewart, Beth Schopis, Marie Rymut, and Brent Perrin, pose for a photo atop the CitiGroup headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Before I even stepped foot onto Ohio Wesleyan's campus, I knew I wanted part of my college experience to involve being off-campus. For years, I had imagined myself studying abroad in any one of a number of exotic locales. Never once did I even think about staying stateside; that is, until Wesleyan in Washington came along.

As a politics and government major, the opportunity to live and to intern in and around the nation's capital seemed like it would be an experience of unparalleled value. As I have discovered, I was right, and the Wesleyan in Washington program at OWU has allowed me to do just that.

I arrived here in early September, when I met up with seven other OWU students: Kristen Cook, Amanda Husted, Brent Perrin, Jason Ramsey, Marie Rymut, Beth Schopis, and Dale Stewart, all of whom would be living and interning in the area as well. Fast-forward two months, and we all seem to have found our respective internship niches: Amanda for Congressman Dave Hobson '58; Jason for Senator Joseph Biden; Marie for Congressman Tim Ryan; Dale for Congresswoman JoAnn Emerson '72; Beth for the Campaign for a Cleaner Congress project of American Family Voices; Kristen for DFI International, an industry and government consulting and management firm; and Brent and I for Beacon Consulting Group, Inc., a lobbying and government relations firm.

On behalf of Beacon's sixteen clients, which Brent and I split between the two of us, we spend our time doing a variety of tasks: researching bills and laws; writing legislative histories and summaries; attending hearings and other events on and off of Capitol Hill; and writing summaries of such events that are later sent to the clients. Ours is work that requires an attentive and inquiring mind, often times listening, not just to what is said, but how it is said. Picking up on the attitudes and opinions of members of Congress as well as the numerous other parties engaged in an issue, can be vitally important as well.

One political lesson I have learned can be summed up in one word: nuance. The art (or science, for that matter) of communicating in Washington can often mean the difference between funding and no funding; and between favorable legislation, unfavorable legislation, and no legislation at all. The details-the little things I never thought about-have come to matter more than before, and more than I ever thought thy would.

Through my off-campus experience thus far, I have been able to not only apply what I have already learned in college to the "real world," but the real world has furthered my knowledge in ways that a professor in a classroom could simply never do. Where the shoe leather meets the pavement, as a professor once told me, is the essence of politics, and I could not agree more.

For those of you considering taking part in an off-campus program of any kind, consider this your warning: do it now, or else it might never happen. For those of you considering taking part in the Wesleyan in Washington program specifically, consider this your endorsement.

-Ben Walkuski