...and then there are the downsides.

Lest some of you wonder what became of the Meghan you knew, fear not, I have indeed found a few things to despair over. Life as a small fry is sometimes...well...small.

It is difficult to know that my place in the office is temporary, and everyone knows it, and I am treated accordingly. I know it is only sensible that the staff not invest too much in me, because after all, they go through a dozen interns a year. That's a lot of people to remember. That's a lot of time spent training the newest batch of kids to do office tasks, and I'm sure that grates the nerves.

However.

My name is Meghan. It is not 'hey kid.' No, I did not forget to take the phones off call forward in the morning. My name is not 'remember that terrible intern we had last year?' No, I did not file the magazines in the constituent mail file. My name is also not 'whoever transfered that call incorrectly.' It is Meghan, it has always been Meghan, and I am fairly certain it always will be. My name is Meghan, and I do not suck at this job. There are other interns in the office. Some of them suck. Some of them I like. I am not perfect, and I do make mistakes, but they are few and far between and I work very hard to keep it that way. There is no point in trying to rise above 'passable' if no one can tell the difference between me and the other interns, because I cannot control their behavior.

My roommates and I have discussed this many times. It is interesting to go from the top of your game to the bottom so quickly. Among our peers we're pretty bright, or so we like to think. Among Hill staffers we are one thing and one thing only - young. It's very hard to convince anyone that your powers of analysis go beyond which Real World cast member to back in the latest house scandal (by the way, I've got groundbreaking ideas in this area, should anyone be interested). Part of my personal despair stems from the fact that my roommates tend to get more substantive work to do than me. It is difficult to explain. On the one hand, I am proud of my office for being sooooo collectively brilliant, and committed to perfection. On the other hand, it is this very drive that robs me of the chance to do real work, which my coworkers care about so much they do not dare trust it to interns.

I understand the skepticism. I understand the leap of faith it must take to give a college kid the chance to represent a member of congress in a letter to a constituent. But I am not just an intern. My name is Meghan, I am a whole individual, posessed of great talent and also the ability to screw it up. Yes, I am an intern. But I do not suck.