From Dust to Bricks: A Texas Girls Take on DC!: Forever Blue!!

Hello everyone!

What a week it has been! This weekend was by far the best that I have been a part of while being here, and it just so happens that it included many of our wonderful faculty and dignitaries from LCU. This post will be mainly about the wonderful events that we attended throughout the weekend and some of the great people that I was blessed to meet.

Starting on Saturday, we got to catch up and eat lunch with some of our faculty members from LCU and discuss with them all of the fun things we have been getting to do, along with talking about each of our internships and the great experiences we are having. We ate at a great place called Ella's Woodfire pizza that I will definitely be going back to at some point while I am here. It was delicious!

Sunday was our first full day of activities with the LCU crew and we started it off on a great note by attending church service at Arlington Church Of Christ in Arlington, VA. It was a wonderful little church that even welcomed us during the service and it was honestly the first time where I felt like I was somewhere that reminded of the wonderful church community back in West Texas. The only downfall about this great church is the fact that it is an hour commute in each direction for us from the RAF at NOMA, so it is quite a daunting task to get there. After church our group went to an amazing chili place called Hard Times Cafe. This is one of the times that my previous trip here to DC back in March came in handy because my mother and I had actually ate there and I knew it was great, so thankfully the others trusted my opinion and we enjoyed a great time at Hard Times. We were blessed to be joined by many faculty members and President Perrin and his wife were also there to enjoy some time with all of us which was great. After eating entirely to much, we made our way over to the Courtyard Marriott at the Navy Yard where we were set to have our LCU Forever Blue Alumni Reception. For those that don't know this is the Alumni Relations tour that President Perrin has been traveling around to throughout the state of Texas and many states across the country in order to keep in contact with our alumni and keep them involved with the university. This event was pretty amazing for me to see the amount of alums that came out and also to see how people who used to be students just like me from LCU have gone on to have some amazing careers and lives within the DC and New York area. At the reception I was also introduced to Mr. Jim Cardwell who plays an extremely pivotal role in my time here in DC as he and his family have provided the scholarships for the LCU Washington Program and getting to meet and talk with him was a great honor and privilege. I was also able to connect with many alumni, along with several of the LCU board of directors and their spouses which turned out to be an amazing experience. And to top it all off, each of us got to take a to-go box full of goodies back to our apartments from the reception! Let me tell you, if you think this sounds like we were spoiled this weekend, you are exactly right! But just wait, it gets even better!

Monday, Monday, Monday. Typically this is the day that I dread because it means the start to another long week of programming, but this Monday I was far from that viewpoint. I knew that we were in for a grand day, but I must admit my expectations were far surpassed. We started off the day by attending the TWC Awards Luncheon in which President Perrin accepted our award for private university of the year and it was a great experience. I will be honest and tell you that I was pretty nervous about the food choices that we would be given, because as my family and friends that know me so well will tell you, I am an extremely picky person and only in the past few years have I actually started eating more than chicken strips and mashed potatoes. But let me just tell you, I ate pretty much every bit of the food that was provided for us, which included a salad with a vinaigrette, chicken stuffed with some type of spinach mix and the best strawberry shortcake dessert I have ever had! Yes, you read that right, I ate spinach, and salad without ranch dressing in the same sitting! (I know must of you reading this don't believe me, but Dr. Rogers is my witness and will tell you the truth if you need to ask him ;)) Overall, the awards luncheon was a great time and provided me with a lot more insight as to how The Washington Center really works and their particular interest in the civic engagement area for all of us students.
Now comes my favorite part of this entire week! Last night we got to attend the amazing and literally awe inspiring Gala that was put on by TWC. Let me just tell you that I have never in my life been somewhere this nice and elegant! Of course we all looked extremely fancy and put on our best dresses and suits for the occasion. I will say that we Texans clean up pretty darn good when we are asked to! Every one of us got many great compliments on our attire and personalities and not to toot my own horn, but I truly believe we were great representatives for LCU and our Lubbock community through our actions last night. As we were standing around during what you would call the social or cocktail hour, I was in awe of how many upstanding people I was surrounded by, not only from our University but from people all across the world. When it came time for the curtains to be opened to the dining room, I thin I can speak for all of us students and say that our jaws literally dropped when we first walked into the space. It was by far one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen and the decorations, along with the fountain sprouting right in the middle of the dining area made for a spectacle that I will never forget. The table settings were immaculate and in all honesty I was a little concerned that I was out of my element when I saw that we each had 3 glasses, multiple forks and plates and there was shimmering golden laced china around us. However, thanks to my wonderful parents who sent me to Cotillion for two years back in my Junior High days I was able to put my "fancy dining" skills to good use and not feel too overwhelmed. Once again, I will admit that I was very nervous about the food that would be served to us, but it turns out that if you are willing to be a little adventurous, then most of the time it will pay off. Now I will have to say that I did not eat all that was on my plates, but just so you know, I did make sure to try everything on my plates (other than the brussell sprouts. Sorry mom, that is just never going to happen!!) I was very blessed to sit at the table with some great people from LCU including Dr.'s Jesse and JoAnn Long who are absolutely amazing! Their influence on me has meant so much, and I am so excited that I now have more connections with faculty other than the great people of the ESS Department.
In regards to the actual event, I will reiterate how insanely honored I was to even be in the same room as so many dignified people. Not only were we in the room with them, we got to hear so many of them speak and accept their awards that were bestowed upon them by TWC. We got to hear from two congress members who were both very funny and even joked how they knew there was irony in the fact that they were accepting awards during a government shutdown. There were also several other great men honored who have been a huge help in respects to TWC and their fundraising efforts. I won't go into too many details in order to keep this post from being a full on book, but just know we were surrounded by some truly amazing people of very high standing.
So as you can see, we were surrounded by an abundant amount of amazing people who have built some of the most impressive careers possible, and many of them have actually come from TWC roots and internships themselves. As a matter of fact, every person who got up to speak to us talked about the importance of internships and how they would not be where they were without the opportunities given to them through internships! This gives me so much hope and courage to keep on keepin' on with this great experience and I could not be more thrilled that I got to be a part of such a wonderful occasion.
It was truly a night that I will never forget and I am so thankful to be a part of an amazing school like LCU. It is pretty awesome to say that such a small school from the state of Texas has made such an enormous impact on the world of Washington, D.C. and for us to be recognized in the setting that we were in was a huge honor. I can promise you that we as interns are doing are darnedest to represent LCU in a way that exemplifies this award and we will continue to show everyone just what it means to come from the Life Changing University. At the end of the day I can truly say that I am a part of the greatest institution possible, and I will always and forever be grateful for all of the amazing opportunities that it has provided for me.

Now comes the not as fun part, going back to work! However, for me it is just as fun because I am getting to be a part of an ever growing agency and sports law environment and from here on out I look to come to work with a positive attitude every single day that will allow me to work my tail off, while at the same time having fun and learning as much as possible. It is funny sometimes how things tend to work out in your life, and I truly believe that being here at DLE will shape and mold me into a better person in all aspects of life.

Overall, these past 4 days have been some of the most rewarding days I have ever had the chance to experience and I am so thankful that I was able to do it with our LCU family. From church, to the Be Blue Reception, to the awards luncheon, to the awe inspiring Gala, I have been so blessed to have this opportunity and will forever be indebted to all of the wonderful people who made it possible. There are several people who were with us throughout this weekend who I have not mentioned in this post, but trust me every single person I came in contact with has made a huge impact on my life in one way or another and I want to thank you all!

I look forward to filling you all in next week on the things that I will be working on this week at DLE and like always thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. As cliche as it sounds, I promise I feel your love all the way here in DC and it means the world to me. I am going to post some pictures below for you all to enjoy! I hope you have a great week and know that I love you all!