Class X, Seminar 4, Day 5 – Washington, D.C.
Day five started out with a discussion about critical thinking. We discussed how our congressional and professional visits made us step out of our comfort zone and challenged the way we viewed organizations and institutions. We discussed critical thinking and strategies to use include which include pause, frame and choose.
– Pause; don’t act or react
to a situation, take a breath and observe how you are feeling.
– Frame; what are my
assumptions, what objective data support and/or challenge my assumptions.
– Choose; what are my
options? What seems best based on the facts and long-term interests.
After another metro ride to
the capital, the group embarked on a tour to learn about our capital’s history.
From the crypt room to the rotunda, our capital is majestic and contains years
of congressional history.
Following the capital tour,
we rushed over to Hart Senate office building where we had to the chance to
meet with not one but both of our Senators….AT THE SAME TIME. Everyone in our
class and the staff were very excited about this opportunity and we made the
most of the experience. With Senator Smith we talked about her involvement in
the Senate Ag committee, implementation of the farm bill, specifically the
dairy aspects of the new bill. Senator and newly named Presidential Candidate
Klobuchar also discussed her involvement with the Ag committee, rural Emergency
Medicine access, and rural broadband. We were able to snap a photo with both of
the Senators and discuss further with Senator Klobuchar’s senior staff member
Brian Werner.
After all the awe wore off
from our visit with the Senators we resumed our day with a Leadership Search
Activity across “The Proper.” Our SMT Team ventured to the Smithsonian Air and
Space Museum to discover how aeronautics and space travel have progressed
throughout the 20th and 21st centuries into what they
entail today. The most interesting aspects of our visit included all the
leadership traits exemplified by a number of men and women willing to risk
their lives in order to further civilization through the basic phenomenon of
lift.
The entire group convened at
the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts following our Leadership Search Activity.
Each SMT performed a 5-minute skit about the leadership traits seen as they
explored various sites throughout the city.
To finish off the night we had our farewell dinner at Tony and Joe’s where we enjoyed dinner and shared our “golden nuggets” with the group.
Submitted by Scott Schwartz and Stephanie Loch
