Week 6: Time for Recess

A restful weekend was much needed.  After four busy in-session weeks, I had a quiet weekend before my last week of the summer which would have Congress out of session.  This gave me the opportunity to read, relax, and most importantly, catch up on sleep.  I knew that this weekend and recess week would be the time for a short rest, before a busy 4th of July weekend and 4 more weeks of being in session.

Although the week took a very casual tone with all of the staff dressing more casually, there was still a rather normal amount of committee work to be done.  Three hearings were coming up for the next week, so it was necessary for staffers to start to prepare documents and witnesses.  This meant that I spent time helping staff prepare various memos and questions for the hearings.  Overall, the week was very fun and relaxed.  Staff cooked pancakes for the office, days ended earlier than usual, and then the whole office left early on Thursday to get the Fourth of July weekend started early.

One high point of the week was the visit to the American Center for Physics (ACP) to tour the offices and workspaces of some of my fellow AIP interns.  It was great to be able to see first-hand the work that the other interns have been doing and connect that with what they've told me about their experiences.  The history center library in ACP was very cool, as they had many historic documents related to past physics landmarks.  One document they had on display was a message typed that explained potential targets for use of the atomic bomb on Japan in World War II.  It was great to see all of the unique work that the interns are doing, and this visit made me excited to see the other work sites - NASA and NIST - and bring the interns to the Hill, as well.