Finding the Right Words

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businessweek.com/ticker/' rel='ticker'>YHOO) Launchcast radio (my customized station) and listen to Coldplay. I search for a good President Reagan quote by re-reading his inaugural addresses. The president and Dr. Feulner were personal friends.

Noon -- This is normally lunchtime, but the writing is starting to flow so I keep going and decide to forfeit food.

12:30 p.m. -- A Microsoft Outlook 15-minute reminder pops up -- "Policy briefing lunch: Reining in Unlimited Government." I'd be lost without Outlook.

12:45 p.m. -- I come to a stopping point in writing and head downstairs to one of our conference rooms (with a great view of the Washington Monument and Union Station), where we discuss the latest Congressional budget outlays over sandwiches, pasta salad, and cookies.

1:45 p.m. -- I return to my office, check my e-mail, and find out that my boss needs some PowerPoint slides by 3:00 p.m. on global trade and economic freedom. The specifics of what he wants is unclear. I call a few Heritage analysts in our trade department, read a little, and pull together some slides that seem on topic.

3:00 p.m. -- My boss calls me in to brief him on the PowerPoint. He likes what he's got, then he inquires on the status of the speech along with seven other outstanding projects (fundraising pitch letter to new donors, Guatemala economic conference details, upcoming audit financial figures, etc.).

3:10 p.m. -- My boss's next appointment arrives, so I get the boot. It's back to work on the speech.

4:00 p.m. -- There are no more writing juices left in me, so I decide to work on a few concrete tasks to check off my list and feel productive. I respond to piled-up e-mails, organize financial statements for an upcoming audit, schedule a meeting for myself to brief high school students inquiring about UN reform, book a plane ticket to Colorado Springs for the upcoming conference, and book a place to stay for a few extra days of rock-climbing after the conference.

5:30 p.m. -- I send the intern home, start wrapping up today's work, and plan out the next day. I usually check Fox News or CNN.com for interesting stories and then make sure Dr. Feulner has everything he needs from me. As soon as he's gone, usually by 6 p.m., I head home.

6:30 p.m. -- I take a jog around the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, an even five miles roundtrip from my house. If I'm feeling lazy I can turn around at the Washington Monument and cut out two miles.

7:30 p.m. -- It's dinner time. I live with a bunch of housemates and we rotate cooking duties, so I have a hot meal four nights a week.

10:00 p.m. -- I log into my e-mail and check for high priority messages and then do some leisure reading to wind down. Currently, I'm in the middle of Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley and Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney.

12:30 a.m. -- Lights out!

I came to Washington as an intern for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). If you want a job in D.C., you almost always have to start as an intern somewhere. I spent six months on the Hill guiding Capitol tours, answering phones, and writing letters to constituents in Georgia. I never expected to end up at a think tank, but one day I got a call from Heritage, which had a research-assistant position open. I went on two interviews and landed the job.

The best thing about my work is that I get paid to learn from bright people, improve my writing skills, and travel internationally -- and I have enough free time to enlist my business skills outside of the office in volunteer projects. Dr. Feulner has run Heritage for 28 years, so working with such an established executive requires that I know when to listen and when to speak up, anticipate what he needs to know before he asks, and have very thick skin. Most of this isn't taught in a classroom.

Knowing what I know now, I would still have studied finance, but would have taken more history classes to learn about the world's leaders. If my generation realized what the truly great men and women of history endured on our behalf, I think we would approach life with more gratitude and humility -- and that's a good thing. Both qualities are lacking in Washington. But whether we desire humility or not, many people -- including myself -- are humbled in a first job. The world is a rough place, and decisions aren't multiple-choice with one right answer.