Musings From DC: Down to the Nitty Gritty

I’ve had my first two weeks of internship and class. What a week! I work with the Child Protection Section in the Family Services Division of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The section is not located in the OAG office but rather in the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) building. The building is in the best place ever – a few feet from the L’Enfant Plaza metro stop! There are many food places around to eat at during lunch, and there is a shuttle that runs between the CFSA building and the court house, which is nice because the court house is across The National Mall (although it’s a very nice walk – Hello, Capitol! – I would not want to walk that everyday, back and forth).

My work at 400 6th St. SW

I work well with the assistant attorney generals I have been assigned to, and I really like them all. I have enjoyed all the projects they have given me so far – not a lot of boring intern work, but rather very informative projects. I’ve written several case notes for one attorney, drafted a stipulation (which is an agreement that certain circumstances existed which caused the child to be neglected), edited a few other court documents (such as permanency hearing orders and disposition orders), read court cases, attended court hearings, served someone with a subpoena, drafted witness questions, and copied a few things (you gotta get used to the few mundane tasks you have to do at any job, although these types of tasks for me have been few and far between). I am very happy with my placement!

The court hearings are a lot different from the ones on TV (obviously). At some of the court hearings, the parent/guardian isn’t present; at others, they are. A lot of the hearings are small and seem more like a discussion. At one hearing, I felt the anxiety and frustration of one attorney when a social worker arrived a half hour late! We were running in and out of the courtroom trying to track this social worker down.

I like all of the interns in the office. We go to lunch together and do our work in the same cubicle, if possible. The atmosphere surrounding the office is different than I expected. I thought it would be very strict and uptight, but everyone is laid back.

My academic course for The Washington Center is International Organizations and Humanitarian Law. I have not had any previous courses in either of these topics, so I am eager to learn. My professor seems very knowledgeable on the subject and is a published writer as well. He has studied around the world and extensively researched humanitarian law. I hope to take whatever I learn in the class back home to help bring about change in the world and change in people’s thoughts on the importance of humanitarian law.

As stated above, I haven’t had previous classes in international relations and I am feeling a bit lost in the class. A very nice guy in my class, Nick (meet him at this blog) gave me some IR terms to look up and Professor Hilaire suggested a book for me to read. I feel a little better about the class, but still lost-ish. Hopefully I’ll get through all this reading material and understand it finally!

My friends and I walked The Mall over the long weekend. Here are a few pictures from it…we can’t end this blog on work and class!

In front of Tennessee!

At the Lincoln Memorial

A very neat saying at the Korean War Memorial. I especially liked it because I was born in Seoul, South Korea and my granddad fought in the Korean War – if not for him and the others, I’m not sure I could have been adopted!