Week 2 - The Supreme Court and Financial Forms
My second week at NCSC started off great. We had the opportunity to go to the Supreme Court to attend the 42nd Annual Lecture presented by the Supreme Court Historical Society. This year, the topic was, “Warren Burger, the Court, and Society” presented by President Emeritus John Sexton. The presentation was fascinating and John Sexton did a great job of mixing humor, history, and insight into Burger’s mind. Following the lecture, we went on a tour of Supreme Court. I have never visited the inside of the Supreme Court before so this was an exciting opportunity. As we made our way through the beautiful building we saw portraits of the past Justices, including the newly added portrait of Antonin Scalia, we visited the library upstairs, and perused the many exhibits on the ground floor including Warren Burger’s childhood desk and Sandra Day O’Connor’s chair that she used while she was on the court. This was an experience that I will not soon forget and I look forward to coming back soon while the Court is in session.
Moving past our visit to the Supreme Court, I continued to work on various projects at the office. The main project this week was transferring financial information to a new form that will be used in all future country projects. NCSC is always continuing to streamline its record-keeping processes and this new form is part of that effort. By the end of the week, Bryony and I had largely finished this project and the new forms will be sent off early next week. These upgrades will first be implemented in NCSC’s project in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it should immediately make an impact.
This week was also filled with many smaller projects. I made up an itinerary for an upcoming visit to NCSC, filled out a teaming agreement and non-disclosure agreement for a project with the International Legal Foundation, and edited a new monitoring form for a NCSC pilot program. Moving into next week I also picked up two new tasks. First, I am going to be revising and reworking the NCSC Sub agreement form and closeout package. Second, Bryony and I will be monitoring, editing, and uploading new information on the website for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
Overall, this was a slow week but I look forward to starting new projects in the upcoming days. At NCSC, the projects you are working are can dramatically fluctuate due to the numerous initiatives that are moving around the office. This ensures that I will receive a diverse set of tasks and experiences throughout the summer, all of which I look forward to learning from.
