One Cal State Long Beach student had a not-so-typical day at the office last year that led to an interesting relationship.
“Enrique Ramirez? Come with us, the First Lady needs your help immediately,” said a supervisor to the 2009 CSULB graduate.
Ramirez, one of the only interns who spoke Spanish, was grabbed by his boss and rushed from the East Wing of the White House into the Map Room to coach the First Lady in her pronunciation of the Spanish word “servir,” which means “to serve.” She was using the verb in a public service announcement.
It was only his third day working as an intern in the First Lady’s office in the fall of 2009, and he was already sitting face-to-face with Michelle Obama, telling her that the ending “ir” is pronounced like “ear.”
“I felt really awkward telling her that how she was saying it was completely wrong,” Ramirez said.
Michelle learned quickly, and after their first meeting, the two had a personal relationship.
Ramirez worked at the White House for four months as part of the White House Internship Program. The program gives participants a chance to work in a department of the White House — for Ramirez, it was the office of the First Lady.
“Those first couple of weeks working in the First Lady’s office were completely jaw dropping,” Ramirez said.
Witnessing the daily hubbub of the White House trumped Ramirez’s former internship experience in Mayor Bob Foster’s office in Long Beach.
Ramirez said he has a newfound respect and appreciation for the amount of work that is put in by the individuals at the White House.
“I see these people putting in work day in and day out, and they are the ones that don’t get the limelight, that don’t get recognized. They are just there to do the job,” Ramirez said. “And that was rewarding enough to be a part of.”
Ramirez started his days at 5 a.m., looking on the Internet on his phone for any news clips that mentioned the First Lady. The process didn’t end until he went to sleep.
“The media never sleeps,” he said. “So when you program your phone to alert you to anything that is being said about the First Lady, your phone is constantly going off. I seriously felt like throwing it out the window.”
On the bus ride to the office, Ramirez was already highlighting what he wanted to look at when he got to his desk. After a few days, he trained his eyes to look for key words in the articles. After a week, he had developed a routine for his job.
Along with breakfast, each morning started with browsing his BlackBerry. He would first look at major news wires: Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg. Next, he shuffled through stacks of major publications, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He also checked the local news outlets from wherever the First Lady was speaking.
Ramirez’s search for any First Lady news included what was being said about her, the family, the daughters and even the chefs.
After collecting relevant news clips for the day, Ramirez packaged the information and sent it to the chief of staff.
“It is a way for the office to know what is being said about the First Lady so they know what to address during the morning meetings,” Ramirez said.
The rest of the day was spent answering e-mails and phone calls, and talking to reporters.
In addition to his day-to-day job in the office, Ramirez was involved in events that the White House put on. Ramirez served as press liaison for the Healthy Kids Fair and Fiesta Latina, where he met Mark Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and George Lopez. Ramirez also worked at President Obama’s first state dinner, which welcomed the Indian prime minister.
However, the event was better known for the infamous party crashers.
“Everyone remembers that as the dinner the housewife crashed, rather than the relations that were established with India and moving forward,” Ramirez said. “It got overshadowed just a little bit.”
He laughed as he remembered being the first one in the office to see the story the next morning. It was a farce that dominated meetings for the next couple of months, Ramirez said.
Interns also got a chance to hear from a number of high-profile people, including Interim Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama.
“Being an intern, you have the opportunity to hear these people speak in an intimate setting that most people would kill to be in,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez’s fascination with President Obama began in high school when he first heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2007.
“His passion and his rhetoric got me locked into wanting to know more about this guy,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez continued to follow Obama throughout his campaign trail after he announced his candidacy for president in 2007. He admired the youth revolution in politics that Obama inspired at the time. Now, Ramirez was watching Obama’s speeches in person and shaking hands with the president, whom he said has a firm handshake.
“It is a different atmosphere seeing him in person,” Ramirez said. “You really connect with the people. There is that one common purpose while you’re there and that is hearing the president speak. It is incredible.”
It was Ramirez’s first time in Washington, D.C., but he hopes it won’t be his last.
“I definitely love the life of D.C. It is such a young city,” Ramirez said. “Just being able to take that 2-mile walk from the steps of Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol was amazing.”
But the best memory was also the most typical.
“The richest experience I had was just walking through the doors,” he said. “When you can say, ‘I’m actually here.’ “
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