Day 3 | Politics Politics Politics

Looking back on the events of today feel like a blur. All the speakers, the people, the walking and the food is floating around in my memory as faded moments. Luckily I have some sugary food to help wake me up enough to complete this post. The clearest memory of today is the first speaker we visited, Susan Goldberg at the National Geographic Headquarters. She spoke to us about how Nat Geo is trying to attract the new generation with how it markets itself. She showed us beautiful photos of nature, culture and disease that were honestly extremely emotional to me. That speech is something I will not forget, and even the building itself is something I will always remember. Although we couldn't walk around much, I was able to see how one part of the ceiling in a neighboring room was painted completely black with shiny stars embedded into the ceiling like a homemade galaxy. Surrounding the exterior of the building were trees and rocks and little "rivers" that brought the concept of Nat Geo to DC. I wish we could go back and just explore.

*Above is Susan Goldberg answering questions from the crowd of WJMC youth correspondents.

After the Susan Goldberg speech we left for lunch at an incredible Italian restaurant called Buca di Beppo. Lets just say that we all had our own food babies by the end of that lunch. Following lunch were the political speeches. Before I tell you about those though, let me just say that I do not like politics. Yes, I have my own opinions that I stand by considering politics; however, I do not know enough, nor am I interested in knowing more, about this area for me to properly argue for most perspectives. Therefore, I prefer to watch from the sidelines and only intervene if I see it as necessary. But on to the important part, the speeches. The first speech was a conversational speech by Brian Lamb which I surprisingly enjoyed. It felt like I was back in English class bouncing ideas off people, it felt invigorating to hear the fellow youth correspondents opinions. Next was the political panel which was composed of Jen Bendery, The Huffington Post, Karin Caifa, CNN-Newsource, and Zach Windeburg, Google. I do not have much to say about this segment, so lets move on to the final speech by Mike Shear. Shear was hilarious. He made the whole room laugh and engaged us in stories that covered serious material but felt like causal conversation. Looking back, I enjoyed two of the three political speeches, which is surprising. Coming in here I would have told you that I wouldn't enjoy a single one, but look where we are now. I can almost physically feel the WJMC experience shaping me as the time goes along, and it is only day three. This whole environment, including the amazing friends I am meeting along the way, is making the impact everyone told me it would. I may have not believed them then, but now I can honestly say that I will not leave as the same person. I'm already beginning to miss the small moments I have with my red group during color meetings. I know this has to come to an end, but I will miss it terribly. Goodnight WJMC.