Mandi Grandjean's Capital Blog
8/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Aug. 11, 2011
Miami women's swimming's Mandi Grandjean (Canton) has just concluded her unique educational experience in the national's capital, Washington D.C. During her nine weeks, she has been submitting periodic blog updates about her adventure. Here is her final entry.
My last couple weeks in DC seemed to have gone by abnormally fast, as does anything that you don't want to end. As I am sure most of you are aware, to say the political tension in DC was and is still high is an understatement. I departed DC when one of the biggest negotiations in history was taking place: the debt ceiling. I am absolutely not an economics major, nor do I pretend to be, so to me the debt ceiling was pretty complicated stuff to comprehend.
However, that was basically the only thing that people could talk about in DC. Everyone wanted to point fingers at each other, blaming the other for not wanting to negotiate. Although, what a lot of people don't understand is when you have a Democratic Senate, a Republican House and a Democratic President, conflict is bound to arise. It is also, politics, so yes of course, it is going to be political. However, when people are directly affected by a decision, (raising the debt ceiling or letting the country default) I would say that it hits a little more at home. This is when the general public gets extremely discouraged with the government. The deadline for the debt ceiling was August 2nd and of course I left DC a couple days before the deal was cut. I would have loved to be in DC for that. All I know is that if the people we elect, are actually public servants, at the end of the day they should put aside their personal views and do what's best for the public and country.
Which is precisely one of the over-arching themes that I have learned after living in DC; not everyone we elect to Congress or public office is a bad guy. We hear from the media all of the scandals, (Weinergate), and the crime, but rarely do we ever hear the good things that elected officials do. The public opinion of Congress is consistently low, for good reason, but I don't think it's entirely fair. Yes, government and the bureaucracy can be annoying and it is very easy to become cynical, but the United States of America, did not go from a brand new country to the superpower of the world without some genuinely good elected public servants. It's similar to the old "glass half full" saying, if you look at government through a negative lens, then you most likely will stay that way, but if you look at it with a critical but optimistic lens, then there is hope for the future.
Another lesson I learned, this one from working in the Embassy of Iraq, is that we as Americans have to be more willing to understand and respect other cultures. The stereotypes that are still alive in this country are only going to hurt our relationships with rising powers. Prior to working in the Embassy of Iraq, the time I spent with anyone from the Middle East was slim to none. I had never spent time with someone from the Islamic religion. Learning about Middle Eastern culture and religion is one of the best lessons I will take away with me. Of course there are many differences between the Western culture and the Eastern culture, but at the end of the day we are all human beings.
I leave DC as a much more understanding and inspired person. I would not trade this experience for anything. Hopefully one day, I will return either for law school or to work in the city. I would be lying if I told you that I knew exactly what I wanted to do because this experience has only further confused me on my future profession. I am truly grateful to have seen and done all of the wonderful things I have and for the opportunity to have shared it all on this blog!
--www.MURedHawks.com--
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