Blog 3. Moments

There are moments that I have experienced here in DC that I will undoubtedly never forget. Some are small and sentimental and others are big and monumental. This week I got to experience a very special moment at the Supreme Court. At my internship, we have been anticipating the SCOTUS ruling on many upcoming trails but specifically the case regarding the Census citizenship question. When discussing the possible outcomes it was casually brought up that the public are allowed into the courtroom and the other interns and I immediately decided that this was something we wanted to do. We went and stood in line at 5:30am and just barely made it into the courtroom. It was truly an amazing experience to be in that special courtroom and to hear the news first hand from Chief Justice Roberts. Hearing the powerful dissent from Justice Kaggen is a moment that I will always remember. A bigger moment that really opened my eyes involved my fellow NDRN intern. She uses assistive technology to communicate and was not allowed to bring her AT into the courtroom due to the strict rules regarding technology. This stripped her of her rights to communicate and put her in danger if an emergency situation was to occur. It was ironic to notice that we were standing in the highest court in all of the United States, yet the rights of an individual were violated. It was clear that the security team was not prepared to properly deal with the disability community and that is simply unacceptable. It’s moments like these that will forever change the way I look at the world. There is so much room to grow and I’m grateful that I have been made aware of our society’s shortfall that often suppresses the voice of many.

Other moments that I have loved the most are much more simple. I’ve loved being able to live and grow with my fellow EYA interns. It’s sad to think of how fast this summer is passing us by and I am already sad when thinking about leaving. It has been such a blessing to have such a beautiful community to come home to, cook food with(or attempt to cook), to learn more, and to laugh with. I still haven’t gotten over the feeling of how blessed I am to be here and I thank God every day for these beautiful moments. 

Mariam

6.27.19

Blog 3