On November 7, 2005, APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnallwelcomed the 2005–2006 class of APSA Congressional FellowshipProgram (CFP) Fellows. In his opening remarks to 31 Fellows,Brintnall articulated three primary roles of the APSA congressionalFellows. First, he noted that following the five-week intensiveorientation, APSA Fellows would become full-time Capitol Hill staffmembers. In this capacity Fellows are typically expected todemonstrate loyalty and dedication to advancing the issues ofimportance of the Senator or Representative in whose office theyserve. The second role involves joining the distinguished fraternityof approximately 2,000 others in the program's history. This rolerequires current Fellows to recognize the program's rich and storiedhistory and to take steps to advance the interests of the program.Third, APSA fellows are to be active learners. The CFP is anexperiential fellowship, based on the participant-observer model.Now that the midpoint of the fellowship year is approaching, itseems appropriate to use the remainder of this essay to brieflyreflect on these three roles. In doing so, I am reminded of theancient Chinese proverb—”I hear and I forget; I see and I remember;I do and I understand.” Undoubtedly, the CFP provides a firsthandopportunity to learn about the first branch of government bydoing.