Harding 2012

I am sitting on a plane listening to Johnny Cash, organizing the hundreds of picture I just took and attempting to start this blog post.

On the left is a window filled with a ridiculous red and yellow sunset.

To the right is my new friend Cami. She is listening to Taylor Swift and thumbing through a fashion magazine. Typical would be an understatement.

When I applied for the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations Advocacy Summit back in October, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that the BYU health science department would be paying for a five-day trip to a national conference and some of my best friends in the department would be joining me.

Now that I am arriving home, I can actually explain the real reason why I was given a free pass to see the nation’s capital. Every year, SOPHE sponsors an advocacy summit where they address four health target issues that they want to be addressed in the upcoming congressional period. They invite university students from across the country to participate and gain advocacy experience with their two-day conference. They have found that constituents from each state are more productive and influential, so they more-or-less ask us to pose as their unpaid lobbyists. We make appointments with our individual congressman and senators and present issues like childhood obesity, health education, minority and ethnic health and public block grants: All in an effort to increase funding for government programs like REACH, DASH and the ESEA. It may sound confusing, but I promise it’s not. (Just imagine me in a suit and tie persuading the senators to vote a certain way on health issues).

The experience I had is one I will never forget.

Now as I am coming home from my unofficial spring break to the nation’s capitol, there are so many thoughts in my mind. I am having such a hard time organizing them into something coherent and interesting for this blog post, but I will attempt by using words and pictures.

The four hour long flight was miserable. I was graciously assigned a seat next to your typical “thug.” He was drinking beer, watching rap videos and bobbing his head to the beat the entire time. It was a sight to behold. Trying to be a missionary and not judge, I tried to make conversation by asking where he was from and why he was arriving in Baltimore. Instead of a response, he just stared at me and then turned his head back to the drugs and sex that was filling his ipod. Oh well, I tried. I guess I just need to remember that not everyone is as friendly as your typical yuppy BYU student.


After arriving, we made a very unorganized journey to the bus station to buy tickets for the Amtrak. It was my first train experience and I can honestly say that the west needs to parallel the public transportation system used on the east coast. Businessmen, students, ordinary individuals and travelers all benefit from a cheap fare to Washington D.C. As I rode through the countryside with the old wooden homes scattered throughout the dense trees, I felt like a Puritan straight out of the 1700s. I just imagined Mel Gibson and his kids popping out from the trees with hatchets about to fight the British just down the road. The first sunset I experienced was from that train window.

The Amtrak took us to Union Station, which is basically the ‘Grand Central Station’ of Washington D.C.. It is located approximately three blocks from Capitol Hill and about four from our hotel. The second I rode the escalator up from the subway and saw the Capitol Building shining over D.C., I knew that I had stepped into a truly historical place, however cliché that may sound.
The events that unfolded the next five days can be summed up in four distinctive adjectives: historical, hilarious, diverse and spiritual.

HISTORICAL

Washington D.C. is filled with history. Everyone knows that. It has been the center of our nation’s domestic and national affairs since the institutionalization of this country. Before I arrived, all I thought about was the history and patriotism that I would encounter. I wanted the D.C. experience and I knew that if I saw all the historical things, then I would be filled with a greater sense of American pride.

I visited the following historical places… The Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Reflecting Pool, National Archives, Dept. of State, Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Treasury, The White House, FBI Headquarters, Capitol Building, Library of Congress, Senate and Representative Office Buildings, Supreme Court, Jefferson Memorial, Dept. of Health and Human Resources, Chinatown, National Art Gallery, Air and Space Museum, The Holocaust Museum, Ford’s Theater, American Red Cross Headquarters, Newsuem, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Downtown D.C., George Washington University and many, many more.


All of these official government buildings and monuments did much to increase my belief in the national government. The brochures, tour guides and overall sense of history that I experienced at each place is something that I cannot describe. Many thoughts from my freshman year American Heritage class filled my mind as I was reminded over and over again how blessed I am to live in a nation that understands liberty and works so hard to preserve freedom. The Lincoln Memorial was by far, my favorite site. Abraham Lincoln has always been my personal hero and I finally was able to experience a little more of his life as I sat on those famous steps and read some of his greatest speeches.


HILARIOUS

Anytime you go on a road trip with friends, there is bound to be some laughter. The group was composed of graduate and undergraduate students, all studying some sort of public health. We are a strange bunch, however we all have that one thing in common. Two of the girls were particularly entertaining and couldn’t help but remind all of us how smart and important they were through their side comments and continuous talking.


On my second night, I took a walk from the White House to the hotel, which just happened to be about two miles. Everyone else rode the subway, but I figured I would never get the change to walk alone and experience DC at night, so I walked. When I reached the capitol building, I noticed a group of people speaking Spanish and arguing over who was going to take the picture of them. I approached and offered to take the picture. They were very happy and started making comments about me in Spanish. I can assure you that even though my Spanish is a little rusty, I can still understand 100% of what people say. They basically talked about how white I was and how they had never seen anyone like me and were so surprised that I spoke Spanish. I later learned they were from Honduras and were visiting for the week. After taking the picture, they proceeded to take pictures of me, both solo and with their teenage daughters who hugged me, and grazed my butt on more than one occasion. Awkward. I walked away still processing what had just happened.



DIVERSE

Washington D.C. has long been described as one of the most diverse places to live in the United States. While I was in New York, I saw many different races, however I don’t think I have ever seen so much diversity in my entire life. I loved it. I experienced it in the different foods I ate, in the various markets I visited, in the people I sat next to on the subway, and in the flags that fly over every embassy. I was the minority and I really enjoyed that feeling. I can only imagine how amazing it would feel to live in a city of that nature with so many different cultures around. Who knows? Maybe I will be headed there sometime soon.

SPIRITUAL

As members of the church, we are constantly advised and commanded to share the gospel at all times and in all places. A lot of the time I forget because I am constantly surrounded by active members everyday of my life. That is not an exaggeration. (BYU is distinct in that regard). Lately, I have been seeking missionary experiences, (especially because my mom and dad have been having their own), and so I decided that on this trip I was going to really focus on sharing the gospel.

Three days into the trip, I was still struggling with how I was going to have an experience. However at eleven o’clock at night, I was sitting in the lobby practicing my pitch to the senators for the next morning, when the bellboy of the hotel approached me and four other students. He was friendly, happy and very interested in why we were sitting in the hotel on a Sunday night and not out on the town drinking in the clubs. I responded that we didn’t drink, nor party, especially on Sunday. He thought that was strange and continued to ask questions for the next hour, opening the door to talk about the church, our values, BYU and many other things. I directed him to the mormon.org website and got his contact information. Before leaving, he thanked me and said something I will never forget: “You know, it’s hard to find people like you guys. You are so happy, friendly and articulate and it shows in the way you act and present yourselves.”

I felt amazing and it truly was a blessing to talk to that man and share some of the happiness that I feel everyday as a member of the church. It reminded me of Elder Faust’s talk, “The Light in Their Eyes.” You can find it HERE . . .


On Tuesday morning I woke up at six and rode the subway to Arlington National Cemetery. I arrived right as it opened and as I walked in, I noticed that I was the only person who was entering. I was able to walk around the grounds for a good half hour before stopping and reading my scriptures at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. It was a very spiritual experience as I contemplated where I was and how much sacrifice had been by all the soldiers in that cemetery. I thought a lot about Kally’s brother Michael who has been wounded and left blind and how much strength and sacrifice he alone had to endure for this country. His life was spared, and even though he has a long journey ahead of him, we can all be very grateful that he is not in that cemetery with the thousands of other soldiers. He is a living hero.

The entire trip from start to finish was a great way for me to spend my un-official spring break.

The conference was amazing, and it left me with a deep sense of American pride and ambitions to run for office.

What do you think? Will you vote for me? HARDING 2012