Mike Meehan
What is the best event that you have attended in DC so far?
By Mike Meehan
Summer 2013
This summer in DC has certainly been full of memories. I’ve been lucky enough to attend events at the White House, the Capitol, and venues across the district. But I’ll have to admit, the best event I attended this summer was the Center for American Progress National Summit.
The day began early in the lobby of the hotel, where my roommates and I scrambled with 900 other students to grab breakfast before the program began. We were lucky enough to score a table right next to the stage, and couldn’t be any closer to Senator Elizabeth Warren when she opened the conference. She opened with a rousing speech about the student loan rate debacle, and energized the crowd by promising to fight to keep our rates down. We then went into breakout sessions, and I attended one regarding the historic Supreme Court cases that just came out this term. I was enthralled to hear the ramifications of cases such as Windsor, and Shelby County. We had the opportunity to hear a panel on women’s role in politics, with panelists ranging from Alex Wagner(MSNBC) to Amy Dacey (Emily’s List). Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) was also there and spoke about her eye-opening experience as a first term congresswomen.
Program students at the event
The summit had several different elected officials address the crowd, none more exciting thenPresident Barak Obama. Okay, I’ll admit, it was only a recorded video that played, but he called us out by name! It was still pretty neat. But we did have some flesh and blood elected officials make there way down Pennsylvania Avenue to hang out with us for a few hours. As previously mentioned,Senator Elizabeth Warren was there, as was Senator Tammy Baldwin, who closed out the conference. We also had the honor of Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), who told us exactly what we wanted to hear about the minimum wage, healthcare, income inequality, student loans, and education as a social justice investment.
The “official” event ended at the conclusion of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s speech, but the after party was where all the networking took place. Rock the Vote, one of the sponsors of the summit, hosted the after party at a bar on U Street, where they extended the happy hour specifically for summit attendees. It’s there that I was able to network with interns across a broad spectrum, from different congressional offices to think tanks.
As an intern this summer in the office of Congressman Henry Cuellar, I’ve had the opportunity to attend many different hearings and events. But I can honestly say I got the most out of my Wednesday at the JW Marriott. I saw some really impressive speakers, networked with some really interesting interns, and all together had one of the best days of my summer.
Mike at the Pentagon
Mike is a rising senior at Fordham University.
