School House Rockin' it!

Somehow it is already March. If you know who the time thief is, please thank her for speeding up this last semester for me. 

On a related note, I am carrying so much tension in my back and shoulders that I have created knots in my muscles which make me feel like an arthritic old woman, so there's that. I'm not saying that all of my problems will be solved after Friday, I just know that I'm going to feel a whole lot better about life. This Friday is my Competency exam for Grad school which is basically a comprehensive exam that is taken instead of working on a dissertation. Do I honestly think I'm going to perform so poorly that I won't graduate from school? No. But it is the mere weight of the exam that makes it so terrible. There is a possibility that it could happen, no matter how small, it is still there. That's what I don't like. It seems so punitive. If you don't pass this ridiculous test then no diploma for you! I don't like it. In hindsight the dissertation would have been a better idea......No one picks to do the dissertation, it's an incredible amount of work. Eff that.

So aside from whining about this big test everyday I've actually been pretty productive. My classes leave a lot to be desired. My policy class would have ruined me had I not had any experience in it because the format and the way material is presented makes me want to swallow barbed wire. And I had such high hopes...

My internship could not have been a better decision. It is fantastic. This doesn't always mean stress-free but I have learned more than I could recount right now. I seriously struck practicum gold with both of my internships, I don't know how or why I got so lucky. 

This year has entailed a lot of learning about what my supervisor refers to as 'watching the sausage get made.' The political process is not a pretty thing, not at all. And sometimes I want to Upton Sinclair that whole thing and write a book about how intolerable it is, but then sometimes you get to add your own ingredients. Follow me with this metaphor, it totally makes sense if you think about it. Politics are messy and ugly and most of the time people don't know what is going into it or who is stirring the pot, but the policy comes out in these nicely packaged documents. Trust me, you'd rather not know. Just check the ingredients before consuming anything.
With all that to say I have been a part in creating a piece of legislation, that I think is pretty damn important, and can point to a phrase or an idea that I put into it. By no means did I write it, they have pale-skinned people in the basement of the Capitol that are really good at that. However, I can point to 2 items that I suggested to a person with more power than me, which then went down a short line to the bill's sponsor who said, 'ok, put that in there.' This is the first bill I have ever worked on so I am going to be overly optimistic and excited. I'm ok with that. The great part is, is that it appears that it will pass. We've got a few more days of concurrence and some veto days to get through but the word on the street is that, things are looking good. When and if i becomes a law, I am going to watch the School House Rock "I'm just a Bill" music video. And likely share. Just in case you never saw it, for your viewing pleasure:

 I will survive the rest of this semester, hopefully without an ulcer or mental breakdown.

I hope everyone else has survived this winter, it appears to be coming to a close. I don't want to speak too soon but the temperature today did remind me that there is good in this world...ha.

Have a lovely week.