On Friday, the second-to-last day of our DC trip, Professor Kobylka surprised us with a tour of the National Mall! After our research in the Library of Congress and delicious dinner at We the Pizza (isn’t that a great name?), we took the metro and began our tour at the Washington Monument. We walked through the World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We also walked past the White House (which was lit green for St. Patrick’s Day!), and we
walked through the Reflecting Pool (because it was drained…pretty cool to say that we walked inside of the Reflecting Pool!). The above photo is from the Lincoln Memorial, as you can see, and as a first-timer in D.C., it was incredible to experience our nation’s capital and all of the places that I’d otherwise only seen in pictures and in textbooks.

A short reflection on Lincoln himself: at the Lincoln memorial, I couldn’t help but think about the reconstruction amendments–Amendments 13, 14, and 15–that likely would never have been passed had Lincoln and his Union not won the Civil War. While all three amendments created long-lasting change whose effects can still be seen in America today, the 14th Amendment is especially significant. The 14th Amendment has been used to extend protections unto more and more people, arguably more people than it was intended to protect. Debate exists as to whether or not the 14th Amendment should be constrained to the protection of slaves, of African Americans, as it has been used to protect other groups. For example, substantive interpretation of various amendments but notably the 14th gave way to the right to privacy.

During America’s Industrial Era, the 14th Amendment was used to promote a laissez-faire economy and protect the individual right to “liberty of contract.” Lincoln sits as a symbol of unity and equality, the ideals towards which America is continually striving, but he can also sit as a symbol of American constitutionalism and the flexibility of our Constitution as it relates to the interpretation (manipulation?) of Amendments. That same evening, post-National Mall, we played our final game of Secret Hitler, a card game I had never played before the trip but surprisingly enjoyed. Professor Kobylka was correct when he said that it brings out the aspects of people’s personalities that are otherwise more concealed. It brings out people’s competitive natures, that’s for sure, and that’s what made it so much fun! You could clearly tell that the other guests in the hotel lobby were jealous of our fun.

Though it was nerve-wracking to strategize what cases to look at each day and plan for “triage,” as Professor Kobylka once called it, should we enter “panic mode” and run out of time, it was an incredible exercise in analytical thinking–one that is far from over, as our papers are not yet done!–and primary research. Never have I ever been able to observe such primary sources for an assignment. We really are creating knowledge, not just regurgitating it, and that’s what makes our papers unique. The ability to create and answer our own research questions and do unparalleled research that simply can’t be done on the Internet provides us Seminarians with opportunities that we’ve never had before, and Professor Kobylka has equipped us with the skills and resources to do something we never knew we could do, especially as undergraduates. Seriously cool stuff!