Maybe someone should write an update to the famous Led Zepplin song and talk about escalators.

Anyway, so, there I was at the bottom of the escalator in the Federal Center SW Metro station. Above me, by about 60 feet, was Independence Avenue. On that street and about a block west was Voice of America, my internship site.

To me, the escalator was a metaphor for my academic career at Rogers State University. Regardless of what happens, the escalator of our education is going to take us to the top. Now, it's true that some people are dolts and jump the side of the escalator. But those of us who are on the escalator are still headed to the top, even if we walk backwards on the escalator which is what some students do.

Still, that's not me. I don't like to stand around and wait; I'm too impatient in that regard. I always wanted to stay ahead, to stay out in front of my peers and not get forgotten in the pack. I never stood on the escalator of education. I always took strides upward, whether it be DJ-ing over the summer at RSU Radio my freshman year, whether it be taking a job in master control at RSU Public Television, whether it be striving for A's in 4000 courses. Whatever the case, I was always walking upwards on an already upward moving escalator.

So that's what I did. I bypassed the masses and raced up the escalator to the street. After brief seconds of disorientation, I found my bearings and proceeded to the building.

Since I work in a federal building, I have to do the TSA routine, like everyone else. However, it's not as invasive as the TSA; I don't have to take off my shoes. Even though I have a federal ID now, I still have to do this routine every day of my internship because I'm only an intern.

What I do at Voice of America is work in the Near East/Central Asia division on a web video daily called "VOA 60." It's sixty seconds' worth of the world's top stories. Although I did not create the idea, for I arrived on the scene just as it was being implemented, I do write the captions for the stories and edit the video content. So, we have The Boss and Mr. Real World to thank for that one. See what I mean? None of this would have been possible without the applied side of RSU's Communications department. I can confidently say that I was adequately prepared to do this job.

So there you go. I also do other menial tasks associated with interns, but I don't care. It is what it is. You know, one thing that Uncle Mike taught me was to never forget what it was like to ride a donkey because even though you may be riding in a limousine someday, you might end up riding a donkey again. So, just because I've been awarded and lauded for gaining this internship, I still haven't forgotten what it was like to be a no-name freshman without portfolio or references.

Well, that's all that I have at this particular juncture. I'm not going to post during the week because it's cumbersome; I'm more of a weekend blogger. And I was going to post some pictures of the National Mall, but apparently I'm too dim to figure that one out. Ah, whatever. Keep coming back because I won't disappoint. Maybe we'll have pictures the next time you drop by my corner of the world wild web.