9, 10, and everything in between.

That was fast...

Ten wonderful weeks gone in what seems like the blink of an eye.  So much has happened over the last ten weeks that I can't even fathom the fact that in less than one week, I have to trek back to Oklahoma.

First of all...how am I gonna fit everything into my suitcases that were already overweight whenever I got to DC?!  Goodness, if that isn't a nightmare in itself then I don't know what is...

But that's beside the point!  I had such a wonderful final two weeks between my classes and my internship that I have no complaints in the world.  We'll start with two weeks ago and maybe work around the rest of that time.

Well...I don't actually remember much from two weeks ago except writing five papers within a week for my classes and the WINS closing ceremony and a really cool visit to the Department of Defense so instead of going day by day, I'll just leave a blurp about those things.

I'm typically pretty good with writing papers but let me tell you, those papers were the hardest thing to write on this planet because they all seemed to be about the same thing.

The WINS closing ceremony was awesome.  Thankfully, Victoria picked me up and took me there with her and some of her colleagues from State that I had not met yet.  Her boss had a wonderful little girl named Norah who was the cutest thing on this planet and her mom was even cooler.  We had one of the coolest speakers too--Under-Secretary for the USDA gave the best speech I've heard through this program since I've been here.  We even lucked out and got another visit from Bill Mendoza, who is seriously the most interesting man on this planet.  I'm not kidding, if the Dos Equis man was Native instead of Mexican....well, Bill Mendoza would be the most qualified for the job.  

Finally, my visit to the Department of Defense was insane--in a good way!  DASD Hollis introduced me to three new people and all of them were wonderful and interesting, just like everyone else that I have met through this internship.  My favorite was Jim (YES ANOTHER JIM, please, east coast people, stray away from the name James...) who was my escort around the Pentagon and not only taught me some lessons about life and working for the DoD, but even took me to be a tourist for 20 minutes so that I could see the 9/11 memorial inside of the Pentagon.  It was beautiful and I was absolutely blown away by how much it affected me.  Isn't it crazy that the generation of people that are currently in high school right now weren't old enough to remember the towers and Pentagon being hit?  Goodness.  But shout out to Jim for showing me around and teaching me the importance of intelligence in this job.  Once again, another beautiful person that I was given the opportunity to meet and get to know.

This past Friday was my last day and I could not be more heartbroken.  I really couldn't.  The amount of support and advice that I have been granted over these last ten weeks is definitely unmatched.  I have never worked with a group of people that I have liked so much and it was wonderful, not to mention, Assistant Secretary Brownfield sent me one of the coolest, most humorous emails I have ever gotten.  YES people, the OU-Texas rivalry has been around for a number of generations and probably will never die...

Thursday, my colleagues in the office threw me and a few others a happy hour since we all are leaving INL.  Don't worry, I had to dig around to find a diet coke (apparently not everyone was aware that I'm only 20...) but I found one, nonetheless!  It was fun though and boy, can Joe (yet another generic DC name) cook.  Friday was the best, and also one of the saddest.  My South America team consists of a group of people that work their butts of and care about you as a person, whole heartedly. They gave me a card at El Chalán as we ate lunch and I decided to wait to read it (luckily, since  I cried at my desk...) but also treated me to lunch at this amazing restaurant.  Thanks to Theresa, I'm coming home with a book for my business cards, a Department of State pullover, a challenge coin, and an awesome ornament for my future Christmas tree, lolz.  I cried leaving DC, moving out was one of the saddest and most stressful things I've ever had to do, honestly.  Thankfully though, last weekend was a blast with all of my OU people and even a fellow Owassan.  God bless your soul if you're reading this Sam Peyton, because you're a rock star and my favorite person on this planet.  Literally.

I am so thankful to have had an opportunity like this and don't want to give it up, but of course, I need to finish school first.  It's tough, being offered something as cool as this and not being able to stick around because you still have school.  School is really an ugly, never ending cycle.  I love school, but goodness...I love DC even more.  I cannot thank each and every one of the people who has stepped up to the plate this summer and taught me more than I ever could have imagined during my time here.  What a beautiful, beautiful place.  New experiences aren't so bad and change is what makes the world go round.  DC, I'll see you soon, you beautiful beast of opportunity.

Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk--and to act.

-Andre Malraux