Traveling Insights: An Inside Perspective

I have a little bit of back-tracking to do today, as Tuesday kept me busy from 5:15 a.m. until 1 o'clock this morning.Let's start with Sunday! Sunday started early, with a welcome from Mark Reynolds and Marshall Saunders the two that started CCL to begin with in 2007.  A few other people on the staff talked and then Bob Inglis, a well-known Republican, gave a really interesting speech about how Republicans think, what terms to avoid, and how to really grab their attention.  Fascinating stuff!  I had no idea that mentioning something about polar bears would be a red flag and immediately lose your audience.  There is much for a lobbyist to know about terminology. The Millennials Group had a lunch as well, where about 20 of us "below 35-year-olds" got together to discuss the issues with getting the attention of younger folks, and why the demographic of CCL is the way it is.  Before someone had actually mentioned it, I had not even noticed, but then afterwards ...

At this time I will have to postpone my updates from today's events.  It has been exhausting, inspiring, but has also left me with five hours and fifteen minutes to sleep before our meetings tomorrow!  I'll be sure to work on this at the airport or Wednesday to recap the glorious memories!

"Act out of love, not fear." I think that quote best describes what I will remember most from this conference.  It's not the amazing VEGAN lunches, or the sudden bursts of tears from Mark Reynolds, and not even the incredible collaboration among each and every one of our volunteers.  That's a whole other story in itself.  But what I've found is that when I truly think about who I am, where I'm headed, and what I want to see in this ideal, picturesque world of mine, it isn't glamorous by many standards.  It's hard work, dirty at times, unending but rewarding for every smile, handshake, note of appreciation and certificate of graduation.  Yes, I may be a full-time student, part-time worker, and part-time volunteer, but despite the load I know that I will make a difference.  Super corny, right?!  Well I'm at an International Conference!  How could I not be motivated by such powerful people just like me? I like how everyone I've met thinks it...

So getting around is actually not as hard as I thought it was!  At least in America.  International can get a bit tricky, but I can proudly say that I used the Metro Rail in Washington, D.C. without (too many) issues, and arrived at my homestay abode without a scratch! I arrived this evening around five and talked with everyone while they came and went...I met people from northern California, Seattle, West Virginia, and St. Louis.  It's soo cool to hear about everyone's struggles with their congressmen and what they're doing to communicate effectively.  I also wish that I had as much experience as them!  There have been some vocab words flying across the table, like externalities, yellow dog democrat, and others that make me feel very young and inexperienced; that being said, I love spending hours just listening to everyone talk!  It's so much better than at school or with my friends sometimes, when the conversation is limited to a certain array of topic...

I realize that Earth Day was long ago, but as promised, I wanted to share with you all images of that day.  Citizens Climate Lobby was able to reach out in a big way to the community, all thanks to our wonderful volunteers (including myself)! Courtesy of Dale Nimz It is already Monday and I leave for Washington on Saturday!  Be expecting a blog post every day that I'm there.  Listening to the webinars leading up to the conference has pumped me up a lot and I know that the experience will be incredible.