Take This Town and Shove It

Take This Town and Shove It. This headline has been circulating around "This Town" aka Washington D.C. for the past few days since its publication in Politico Magazine and I thought I'd weigh in too.
Written by former White House correspondent, Sam Youngman, the article details Youngman's time as a reporter in Washington D.C and how he got sucked into the D.C culture, writing "I was so trapped in the bubble of my own artificially inflated ego..."Yougman has since moved on and is currently a political reporter for the Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky.
Youngman wrote at the beginning of the article, "I made it to the White House beat and broke into the club." He added later in the piece, "I had fallen out of love with journalism..."
To an aspiring reporter like myself, Youngman lived the dream. Spending days reporting on the White House, riding in Air Force On, and getting invited to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Youngman had it all.
The publication of this article is perfect timing as I finish my semester in Washington D.C. tomorrow. Acting as a Washington correspondent for the past semester has taught me how much I love researching and covering politics. I now know that I would love to end up returning to "This Town" sometime in the near future.
While it may seem easy to beat up on Washington and the politics that consume it from an outsider's perspective. For an insider like myself (at least for the past four months) it is even easier to see how one can fall in love with "This Town."
However, this article was a good wake up call as I complete my time reporting in D.C for now. It is important to not get too caught up in the day-to-day operations and lifestyle that consumes many of D.C.'s inhabitants.
But no matter how ugly it may seem to get at times (shutdown anyone?) Washington D.C. will forever be a journalist's dream when it comes to covering politics. So if I do end up returning to D.C., it will be important to keep in mind where I came from in order to not get trapped in the bubble like Youngman.
Despite this article, for now I'll continue to tweet about politics, watch CSPAN, and dream of the possibilities that D.C. can offer me.