Congressional courtesy

Steps taken by all man pave the path before them. The path chosen by all man is rooted in the very soil that has paid its dues for their chosen journey; here I am reaping the fruits of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and many men who shared in his vision for us all to journey on to great things. Today I am an intern in the office of the honourable Congressman Bobby L. Rush.

Who could have thought, the first government I would work for would be a foreign one? Truth be told, getting the news just after my exams was ideal, because I would have started drafting policies in my exams rather than answering the questions that I was being examined on. I must admit that my knowledge of the Congressman was below any significant barometer of the “I-know-scale”, but that of congress in general was well in order. The eagerness and act thereof of who the congressman was, put the icing on the cake, because the hits on Google mad sure I stayed up the entire night and dawn reading more about the man himself.

Allow me to give you a Congressman Bobby L. Rush 101 synoptic lecture; after all I do have the congressional bragging rights. Congressman Rush is the representative of the district of Illinois, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, “he believes in the constitutional promise of equality, liberty and justice for all Americans” -http://rush.house.gov/ . The aura around him; be it in a meeting, a chat in the office, or a lift ride to the office, is beyond the norm of being in contact with a government representative. He manages to look beyond positions, titles and the likes, and treats you as an equal; I mean is that normal for a guy, who defeated Obama in a primary, a man who was once a Black panther.

Swimming outside one’s comfort zone, makes the dive into new waters with it. Working in the Rayburn building gives you a certain heightened confidence, a certain desire to know more, a particular need to ask what can be done differently by South Africa within the realm of government. The first hour of being in room 2268 stripped me naked of my “what if a mess up” mentality, and induced a desire in me learn more as the days went by.

In order to be trusted with great things you start with the smalls. The first day presented itself with lessons of standard protocol for everything, when I mean everything I am not fooling around, from how to answer calls, how to do research, how to write proposals in terms of briefings and not forgetting the use of a photocopy-scan-all-office-purpose machine called “Ricoh”. The basic run of the normal day would be to arrive in the office at 09h00 in the morning eager to work until 18h00, where half of the day you attended the most amazing briefings, and meetings with people you thought you would never meet. The highlight of attending briefings and meetings, (besides meeting important individuals) was how my opinions were valued to extents I never imagined.

Behind every great man is a great woman, but behind every great government official lies a staff that goes the extra miles and even beyond to see the success of an office. Come the end of my internship, I will appreciate more so the folks that get to work at seven in the morning to see that the speeches off the day are well prepared for the man in charge, the women and men who cannot attend their sons’ football games because of the damage that the press has ignited for the office they represent.

My general work etiquette before this venture was, working to live; now I live to work. Much can be learned from this all by my government back home. What would happen if all government institutions and bodies had interns? Would that not spark more interest in engaging with the government for the youth? These questions amongst others have used my mind as a treadmill and now, they need to be answered, and the question is how? .