now cough.

So I just returned from the hospital and some IHOP with mamma Lee and I’ve come to an insightful and well thought out conclusion: I don’t enjoy going to the hospital. I don’t think anyone enjoys going to the hospital for that matter. Sure people may not mind getting check-ups or visiting a friend, but I have yet to meet anyone who is eagerly anticipating their next visit to the hospital.

The hospital is just not a pleasant place. Maybe it’s the sterile office, the cold steel, or the excruciatingly long waits. Personally, I became all too familiar with the hospital at too young of an age battling chronic asthma attacks and the little lollipops they gave me after each visit were not enough to entice me back.

I suppose my relationship with hospitals is rather love-hate. I hate going to the hospital, but having been to so many, I love medicine, science, and the doctors who commit themselves to battling sickness. I just hope that I never have to see another one of those great people again.

On a related note, last night I saw a man in the grocery store wearing this shirt.

deep, huh?

hello stranger.

Yesterday, I suffered through a rather terrible flight from Manchester to Newark. I flew Continental, which I’m convinced engineers their cabin to be as awkward and un-ergonomic as possible, maybe they wanted to stimulate the feeling of being trapped in a coffin. Anyways, most of the flight was unpleasant: I slept through the complimentary drinks/food and was pinned to the window seat so I couldn’t go to the restroom. It was only when we were unboarding that I met my seatmate a girl by the name of Caroline. As we walked off the plane together began talking and ended up suffering through our hour layover together over some mediocre airport food.

Caroline was a senior in college on the brink of pursuing an acting career in New York. She had just finished her summer involved in a theatre that had put on numerous different shows. While I felt like we had come from such different backgrounds and areas, we had also met at a very similar point in our lives and had so much in common. We spent the conversation talking about how much we loved the work we did this summer: for her acting, for me campaigning.

She then introduced me to the world of acting. A world of constant rejection and failure, only to succeed and be discovered at the most unlikely time. A world where ones work is so personal yet so easily criticized. A world where you become the characters you play and live out the plots written for you. It was a world so different than mine, yet a world I found quite fascinating. By the time I saw her board her next flight, I had the utmost respect for her and her passion for acting.

One thing she said really struck me, “If there is anything other than acting that you think you might consider doing, you have to leave acting and go do that. It’s just that difficult.” I envy her passion for acting and I believe that this is the commitment and desire that we all must have in our vocation and life.

dare to hope.

Today’s my final day in the office. So I’m finally taking the time to sit down, look around and take it all in. It’s the pillars in the office that strike me the most. All of the pillars throughout the office are covered with signatures of the community leaders, staff workers, interns and local volunteers who have spent countless hours working for the cause, the cause that is boldly painted on walls “hope.action.change. Obama ‘08.”

People continue to ask me as I leave, “What did you learn from your time here?” and I’ve been pretty stumped. Sure there are the obvious things: I learned how campaigns worked, I learned how to work 12 hour days, I learned how to communicate my opinion on difficult issues and I learned the importance of civic duty. But those were implicit lessons that I knew I’d learn when I flew out to Manchester. What did I really learn on this campaign?

As cliché as it sounds now, I learned about the Audacity of Hope. In our imperfect world full of imperfect people there is a necessity for hope, a desire and belief of something better. I don’t think that we can live in this world without hope: whether it is hope in the goodness of people, hope in a better tomorrow or hope in God. Unfortunately, these days people are disillusioned by hope. They are afraid to hope because they are afraid of being let down or being wrong, and that fear is paralyzing.

It’s here on the Obama campaign that I once again discovered the audacity of hope. I’ll be honest, before I joined the campaign I was a cynic. I supported Obama but couldn’t bring myself to believe that he could win. I couldn’t bring myself to put my hope in him. But here in Manchester I met thousands of people who had put their hope in Obama, everyone from the staff worker waking up at dawn to assemble the press clips to the single mother who had shown up with her child to volunteer for the campaign. It was remarkable and it challenged me to hope once again. And it was hope that sustained me through the 12 hour days, it was hope that helped me survive the sweltering nights on the couch and it is hope that allows me to believe that Barack Obama can and will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2009.

I double-dog dare you to HOPE.

hope.action.change.

Me with Senator Obama in Derry, NH.

Working hard, living the dream and changing the world. Thus is the life of an Obama intern.

Obama ’08.

a few good men.

If you were to ask me what one attribute I look for in a brother, mentor, candidate or friend, I would say character. I admire men of character and constantly strive to develop it in my own life as well.

What exactly is character? Character means standing up for what you believe in when it’s not the popular or easy choice. It means having integrity and being consistent to your values. It means being loyal and faithful to a devotion, person or cause. It means understanding when you have made a mistake and being able to admit that you were wrong. It means being able to sacrifice your personal gain for an even greater purpose. Character is that one human attribute that is just uncommon and the attribute that far too many people are lacking. Even myself.

It’s when I think about men of character, that I can see that I’m just a young, immature boy with plenty of room to grow.

barack the vote.

Me with Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.

hope. action. change. obama '08

throwing out the plan book

If all goes to plan, in ten years I will be happily married with a couple of kids settling down in the suburbs. If all goes to plan, I’ll be financially secure and living a comfortable lifestyle. If all goes to plan, I’ll be very content with my life. But is being “content” good enough? What up’s and down’s, excitements and downfalls will I forgo living life according to my “plan book.” The last thing I want is to look back at my life with regret, knowing that I could have done great but settled for alright. I don’t want to live my life afraid of risks; rather I want to live my life embracing risks.

I truly respect men who live with a greater vision and a sense of purpose. As RFK said, “Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.”

...

I have absolutely no idea what the next three weeks have in store for me, but I know this for certain, I’ll never look back ten years from now and wonder what could have been.

(written 8/6/07)

terminal reflection: my DC experience

In my life, I’ve spent countless hours in terminals around the world reminiscing of that summer or semester’s great memories. At times, it feels like my life is on constant fast-forward from one summer to another, one terminal to another. So terminals evoke rather bittersweet emotions for me, they remind of the amazing experiences I’ve been so fortunate to have had in my lifetime but also of the multitudes of places and friends I’ve said goodbye to.

So now here I am sitting at the Reagan National Airport terminal waiting yet again for another flight home. Yet as I sit watching people slowly crowd the terminal, it’s difficult to fully realize that my time in Washington, DC is up and that I’m going home.

My summer in DC was outstanding; the city is amazing and the experience was unforgettable. It’s difficult to convey my love for the city to people who haven’t experience it for themselves. To them, my gushing over meeting politicians and visiting historical sites can seem like a fanatical experience quite appropriate for a “power-hungry” city like DC. Rather, I have experienced quite a different city throughout this summer, I have experienced the “historical DC,” the “proud DC,” and the “selfless DC.” Sure, those power-hungry people certainly exist in DC, but the good people have left a much better impression on me. In this city, I remembered the millions of good Americans who have given their life serving this country. In this city, I realized the tremendous impact that a few great leaders have made throughout the course of history. And in this city, I was reminded of the earnest hope and desire a person can have to change this world for the better. Politicians are often written off as sleazy or self-gratifying, but I’ve come to believe that almost every one of these men and women serve because they genuinely want to and can effect positive change for people. Sure, I disagree with many politicians regarding how to best bring about that change, but regardless of their thoughts or political persuasion, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them.

As with every great “experience” I have had in my life, I have considered what it is that I’ve learned during my time in DC. After all, this term experience cannot loosely be attached to any event or period of time, rather, experience requires judgment. Judgment is required to discern what was learned and how I grew, so that my summer in DC is more meaningful than just an event in my lifetime. I’ve learned from this experience the true power of hope and meaning of ambition.

So now I continue to hope. Hope that a Black man can become president. Hope that Asians can be better represented in politics and media. Hope that this world can become a better place. I also continue to strive. Strive to live for more than financial security and power. Strive to live for Christ and on behalf of others.

“There’s nothing wrong with making money, but focusing your life solely on a buck shows a poverty of ambition.” – Barack Obama.

I love DC.

Why do I love DC, you ask? Because only in DC can you be eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant with friends and happen to see Presidential Candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich walk in with his wife. Last night, seeing him stroll in and take a seat was astonishing for my friends and I, who all happened to be very interested in politics. Of course, being the young, brash aspiring politicians we are, we wanted to say hello but ultimately felt that would be rather rude. Instead we decided to settle for some glimpses of the back of his head en route to the restroom. As we were leaving the restaurant, however, it just so happened that the congressman and his wife had finished their meal as well. And we shook hands with Congressman Kucinich in the hallway.

I also love DC because only in DC can you go to Capitol Hill and meet Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama. That’s right, this morning I shook hands and took a photo with Senator Obama, the man I believe should be the next president of the United States. It was extraordinary meeting Obama. He is a man that I have only the utmost respect for, a man that can empower this nation’s young people, and a man that I believe can change this nation for the better. I sincerely believe he is our generation’s JFK and will forever be remembered in history as a great man.

In fact, I believe in Obama so much to the point that I am seriously considering spending the remainder of my summer in New Hampshire interning at his campaign headquarters. I’ll keep you informed. But for now, I’m relishing my last remaining days in DC.