Caitlin Mac Neal

On our trip to the House and Senate Press Galleries, I learned a lot. Trips around Washington, D.C. interest me because I find any of the inner-workings of the government to be exciting. First of all, I felt privileged to be in the House Press Gallery. It was exhilarating to see where the “House Beats” work. I was most surprised by the size of the Gallery and of the floor. I had always imagined it to be a huge, bustling place. I knew that not all of the House members were on the floor all of the time, but I did think that the room would be more accommodating. I learned the most about eartags.

I had never before thought about the process that local communities undergo to obtain federal funding for something like a mule museum. It made me wonder how many things in my community were debated on the house floor. I thought it was interesting that all of the journalists and reporters have to go through the House or Senate Press Gallery to cover the Hill. This visit gave me mixed feelings about being a journalist. I thought it would be really exciting to work at Capitol Hill, but I also felt like it might be boring to sit through multiple eartags and wait for news to happen. I realize that journalism is not the glamorous thing I always imagined it to be, but I would want to travel abroad and write interest pieces about different happenings around the globe.