Finding the Comfort in the Uncomfortable
Hello, this is Kelvin Urday from Missouri, and I will be the Extern guiding you on the goings on and happenings here in the capitol of our country for the next few weeks.
In governmental work you have to comfortable being uncomfortable in order to get the job done. In this blog I will be chronicling my journey as an AVMA Extern and all of its boundary stretching moments.
The morning of my first day (Monday, January 4) was spent in the bimonthly AVMA Governmental Relations Division (GRD) staff meeting. This is a time for all staff members to update each other on what they are all respectively doing. It is also an opportunity to reconvene and reformulate future plans. It was an enlightening but also confounding experience behind the inner workings of politics and lobbyist organizations.
Government work is like sifting through alphabet soup. Letters and numbers are thrown around haphazardly into a tornado of legislative mumbo jumbo. It’s almost like speaking another language. Every now and then familiar acronyms would pop up. But for every USDA, there are about five XYZ 123 ABCs. Upon coming to Washington DC I thought I was more educated on political matters than the average 20 something year old inundated by the blogosphere, Facebook, and celebrity gossip. But come to find out, I cannot even reach out and touch the knowledge that individuals in this city possess of our government.
After the staff meeting, I spent some time becoming oriented to the program and meeting with Gina and Ashley, the associate directors of the AVMA GRD. They are the representatives of the AVMA on Capitol Hill. They are the ones writing letters, meeting with congressmen and women, and ultimately lobbying on behalf of veterinarians. The AVMA has fantastic representation here in DC and I am honored to be working with them. Though the job is difficult, time consuming and labor intensive these tireless individuals are working to improve the state of our profession and country.
Then, I began placing phone calls and e-mails trying to get in touch with local veterinarians and legislators. I also began reading up on current legislation and the AVMAs opinion on it. The issue I am concentrating on is the Veterinary Services Investment Act.
I was also able to find a grocery store a few blocks from my hostel. Though I was painfully surprised to find that groceries cost about a third more here than they do in Missouri!
Find something uncomfortable to do today!
Regards,
Kelvin Urday
AVMA-GRD Student Extern
University of Missouri
kelvin.urday@gmail.com