Monday, May 24, 2004

The best day of my life

Getting off the train at Metro Center, I rushed up the escalator (on the left side, of course) and fed my MetroCard into the scanner. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," the attendant called as the pale yellow gates yielded to my presence. "Today is the best day of your life."

When we left Dellenback Center this morning, our group of scruffy college students transformed into suit-clad journalists. Sure we were the plankton in an ocean of Washington, D.C. journalists, but we at least we belonged somewhere in the ecosystem. We had officially crossed over from tourists to interns.

I really like D.C. now that it's my home. I don't feel lost anymore or out of place. Well, maybe a little out of place... just enough to feel like I'm still in an adventure.

I loved that man in the Metro and what he said as I left the station. It made me smile, but it also made me realize what a blessing this place really is. Here is a community at the heart of the nation. Here is the pulse of a country, setting an example of unity. Some people here still scare me (from the people at 7-11 to the bureaucrats on Capitol Hill, but I'm getting past my fear. As Wes Pippert reassured us this morning, we don't have to be afraid of this place.

I'm not afraid anymore. You hear that? I'm not afraid anymore!

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