As it has been a week since I have finished the program, and I am now comfortably resettled at home, I thought it might be beneficial to look back at my experience over the past six weeks. They were undoubtedly the best six weeks of my life. I have exited this program in many ways [...]
DAYS 32-33: The End
The past several days have been hectic to say the least. Between winding down the program, getting in a last bit of social life, and a dorm fire, I have had little spare time. Yesterday’s class I found somewhat less than inspiring. We covered the role of charity in American virtue, a subject as an [...]
DAY 31: Winding Down
Unfortunately, there was a problem involving room keys and miscommunication last night, so I was unable to reach my computer to blog. I have been greatly enjoying this week’s discussion of what constitutes American virtue. Yesterday, we discussed several topics related to the short stories “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” by Mark Twain and “The May-Pole [...]
DAY 29: Beginning of the End
Today was the first day of our last week of the fellowship. I feel conflicted, to say the least. I have enjoyed the people I’ve met. I have learned so much in the classroom. I have grown fond of Washington, D.C. However, I also miss my family and the peace and quiet of suburbia. I [...]
DAY 28: Reality Check
Today we finished up the policy presentations with the Bioethics group. I actually expected there to be more contention than there was, especially in the area of abortion. There was, to be sure, much discussion of the issue, but the class as a whole chose to depoliticize the issue and for the most part were rational and unemotional. I [...]
DAY 27: Starstruck
I know I have written in several posts that the day I was writing about was my favorite day. I take all of them back. Today was by far the best. In the morning, we presented our policy on healthcare. Since the group consisted of fifteen people and three policy options, roles were delegated to [...]
DAY 26: Preparation
The powers that be were not very happy with the majority of people in the program today. Yesterday they gave us free rein to execute our policy projects as we saw fit. Those in the classroom decided it would be more convenient for all concerned to meet in the rec room of the dorm at [...]
DAY 25: Death and Life Lessons
Yesterday I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to take a hour and a half ride on a freezing cold bus talking about Machiavelli with my seat mate before trekking out into the blazing 90-somthing degree Pennsylvania heat. My objective and the reason I was actually thrilled about this? Gettysburg. Before I even came [...]
DAY 24: Obamacare, Death Panels, and Security
And now presenting… Drumroll please…. HEALTHCARE! Today we FINALLY covered Obamacare (or as our professor prefers to call it: The Affordable Care Act) and Paul Ryan’s healthcare plan. I was surprised by the depth of the reading; the beginning of the week was fairly light, and most of the information we acquired was from our [...]
DAYS 21-23: Healthcare How-To
For the past two days, I have received a veritable 101 course in healthcare history and ethics. We have read everything from Thomas Paine to The New York Times, and I find myself consistently impressed by the minutia of healthcare. What I had naively thought came down to a question of yes or no on Obamacare is [...]
