emi

today we are leaving behind our FEMA headquarters life for a bit and traveling to the Emergency Management Institute in northern maryland. taking a break from the 48 emails I am welcomed with some mornings as a part of the job I'm working in external affairs. although I will never complain about the free starbucks refills I get on a daily basis (due to the starbucks app I should have downloaded years ago and the extremely convenient location of the starbucks connected to our downstairs lobby), it is nice to be getting some fresh air in the rural maryland countryside.

and....after a thorough ID check. we've arrived at the institute. blog to be continued...

"sweating it out"

this 95 degree/a billion percent humidity thing isn't really doing it for me. but add khakis into that situation, and it just really makes everything better. ....

my team's been moving right along with our assignments in external affairs. one of my teammates and I were able to go on a tour of the capitol building with our team leaders, some other corps members, and some FEMA interns. we saw everything from the old supreme court room to being allowed exclusive access to the floor of the house of representatives. it was an incredible experience (that had made me wish I paid significantly more attention to us history and government in high school...sorry ms rollinson and mr mulholland!) but I really appreciated the trip to the capitol! (in my own psyc/theatre degree kind of ways) 

more about FEMA headquarters work...the girl I work with has been out of the office for a few days and will be again this coming week, so I've been acting as the special assistant to the director of external affairs, which may or may not be a completely appropriate job to do in khakis and a polo. but then there you have it. it's been a busy experience but definitely worthwhile. 

this coming week we'll be going on a   tour of the corporation for national and community service headquarters, which is located in downtown dc pretty near our FEMA headquarters. later on in the week, we'll be going to maryland to visit the emergency management institute to learn a few more emergency management tips to add to my life skills. (ps dear family, by the time I come back home, I will be able to mitigate any disaster we experience, so don't you worry....I've got it covered. I'll also make copies of some FEMA flyers just in case). 

this weekend one of my teammates who had left the program came to visit (shout out to britt!) and we did tourism in dc like it was nobody's business. we braved the 95 degree weather, walked miles across dc (ok, maybe it was just a few blocks...but they were very large blocks...), and visited museums/saw some archives in record time (while also deeply appreciating the sites and history of dc too, obviously). all in all, it was a productive weekend and I'm pretty sure I lost half of my weight in sweat in the past two days (too much information? sorry, that's what happens when a person creates a diary blog on the internet)  

we've only got two more weeks left in the nation's capitol before heading back to sacramento in our 15 passenger van. let's see what you've got, dc.

two week dc wrap up

sunday night. finally sweat free and clean after a four mile humidity-filled run down the river outside. sitting on our hotel room floor eating cereal and watching long island medium with my teammates. this has become my nightly routine.

we've been working right along in FEMA headquarters getting things done for america in external affairs. I've really been loving the environment we've been working in. not only are the people we work with wonderful and welcoming and are willing to help us with any area of difficulty we come across, but the people of dc have been a welcome addition to life as well. I feel like dc is a very determined, motivated, and challenging city buzzing with self-starting intellectuals of all kinds. because I've spent so much time prior to FEMA corps working on separating myself from politics and government-ish issues (mainly because I found them to be frustrating and preferred to live in my blissful southern california bubble) I find myself learning so much by just being here in this city. and working with an agency within the department of homeland security has been a fascinating experience. I find myself wanting to learn as much as I can everyday so that I can make informed opinions and hopefully put my (future) masters of social work degree to use and work to make changes in society at a national level. 

aside from my philosophical, wanting-to-make-a-difference-in-the-world viewpoints, I've also really enjoyed getting to see how FEMA works behind the scenes. we've spent all of our time up til now being out in the field and going door-to-door and interacting with people directly affected by disasters and now we get to see what happens in headquarters when disasters are declared and how people are deployed out and how things start moving. we also get to see who FEMA is interacting with both outside and inside DHS and the new movements they're pushing for (ex. incorporating the use of iPads into disaster relief and recovery, which, by the way, obama referred to specifically when he recently announced his new management agenda. and, by the way, he was directly referencing the work we have been out in the field doing, especially when we were in illinois and were a part of the iPad pilot program). so I'd have to say, getting an (indirect) shout out from the president was pretty cool.

planned for this coming week...more softball games with FEMA (we're on the deputy administrator's, richard serino's, team), a tour of the capitol, and a possible visit to the national zoo. so I'd say it's probably going to be a good week.

(also I can't believe I forgot to mention that my beautiful and talented older sister came to visit me last week and I am just so appreciative of the time she took off to come see me. love my sista so much! ........does that work, kristina?)

time in dc

we've been in dc for about a week and a half now and it's really beginning to grow on me.

spent the 4th with my teammate mallory and some of her family. our day was spent on the national mall with the other several hundreds of picnickers and nappers who came out to spend america's birthday in the nation's capitol. we spent the night on the roof of a friend's office building watching fireworks, lighting sparklers, and creating glow-in-the-dark jewelry. 

prior to FEMA corps, I had never been exposed much to the government side of things. and now, here I am, smack dab in the middle of it in my khakis and blue FEMA polo. it's a completely different environment living and working in dc. so much different than any environment I had been exposed to previously. external affairs is probably one of the most exciting departments to work in within FEMA because you get to see everything that comes through the agency. in the past week and a half, I've done everything from create slides for the director of external affairs to bring to a video teleconference in front of the directors of every department within FEMA to managing several affairs regarding senior leadership in the agency, such as creating appointments and managing schedules, to taking (and later sending out) the notes in meetings where the division directors within external affairs gather and discuss their current projects. I've been exposed to so many people and topics and discussions that I had never known about before. working in the nation's capitol is a fascinating experience. I've spent so much time and energy (prior to FEMA corps) not focusing on politics or government affairs at all and I feel thankful in a pleasantly-surprised-I-never-expected-to-ever-be-interested-in-the-government-let-alone-working-in-the-middle-of-the-government kind of way. 

oh and the 4th of july was fun too. :)

hello dc

we got into dc on saturday afternoon and it's been a little bit crazy ever since. saturday night I was able to meet up with a friend from diabetes camp who's living and working/researching/schooling in virginia for a bit. it was incredibly nice to see a friendly familiar face from my pre-FEMA corps life (not that I don't love all my FEMA corps friends' faces that I see every day). sunday was a day to sleep (which I had forgotten about for a while...especially since sleep didn't exist for me all last week because I acquired a severe tick paranoia while living in st. louis...but that's behind us now...for now...). 

our first day of work began monday (which turned out to be an orientation day so I guess, technically, today, tuesday, would be considered our first day of work). my team of eight people (including my team leader) got separated into various jobs/departments within external affairs at FEMA. within external affairs are different areas, such as public affairs (dealing with reporters/media, press releases, etc), private sector (dealing with all of the businesses, etc. that FEMA works alongside with when a disaster occurs. for example, if a tornado wipes out a city then FEMA would see if there was a large store nearby, ie. target or walmart, to help bring in large amounts of water or other form of sustenance), and strategic communications (which do a lot of writing for the weekly/monthly FEMA newsletter and really anything else that needs to be written and published). those are a few areas among several others.

I work at the front desk on the floor and work directly with the director of external affairs as well as assisting with communication between him and all of the departments within EA (external affairs). I work alongside my wonderful POC (point of contact) in arranging and scheduling meetings, agendas for meetings, taking notes at meetings and passing those notes along to everyone else within the department (sometimes the higher up people including the us secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano, as well as the administrator of FEMA, craig fugate). we know what everyone's doing within EA and work to coordinate all departments and assist with having them all communicate effectively and efficiently among themselves. 

more about the job later (maybe once I have my second day at work?) in the meantime, I can't wait to celebrate america's birthday in dc complete with 4th of july attire generously donated by TG Ter (aka team guardian terri....thanks moms!)