U.S. Rep-elect Terri Sewell is a perpetual motion machine these days.

On one morning a reporter caught her by telephone, she was on the campus of Harvard not far from where she had studied law, purchasing a tee shirt for her niece.

But she wasn’t too busy to talk a moment about coming down the following day to be grand marshal of the Selma Christmas Parade and what an honor that was.

The parade and opportunity to visit with her mother and father in her native Selma, gave Sewell a respite from the many meetings and orientation seminars planned.

This particular day she was at Harvard as a student again, this time one of 26 newly elected freshmen members of Congress attending the Institute of Politics seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

“I have really enjoyed this,” Sewell said with her usual enthusiasm.

The day before, Sewell had been in Washington at a regional meeting of Democrats, where she was elected the regional whip for Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Being the whip for the region means she’ll check on votes and ensure the Democratic delegates from this particular region in the United States have the facts about the policy, legislation or track they are taking as a group, she said.

While she’s working within the party structure to come in January with sleeves rolled up, Sewell also is toiling to set up her own staff and digs in Washington and throughout the district.

“I haven’t decided the locations of all the district offices,” she said. “We will keep the ones at the courthouse in Selma and in Livingston at the University of West Alabama, but in Birmingham, I haven’t decided on a location.”’

She fared well in the lottery among freshmen members of Congress for the vacated offices at the Capitol. “I got a good lottery number,” Sewell said, “No. 5 out of 85. It’s a great location, 1133 Longworth — on the first floor and the first office. That’s great accessibility.”

Of course, offices mean staff. So far, Sewell has announced one main position. Her chief of staff is Nichole Francis Reynolds, who was most recently chief of staff for Betty Sutton (D-Ohio-13), a member of congress with a progressive record.

None of the other positions, not even local ones, have been staffed.

“I’ve been doing a lot of interviewing,” Sewell said. “There are a lot of talented people out there looking for work now.”

Reynolds said she’s looking forward to working with Sewell. She has family members living in the 7th Congressional District.

“I am excited for the change to work on behalf of so many great communities,” Reynolds said.

As she’s looking for help and packing to settle into the Capitol Hill office, Sewell has made the rounds politically, coming out early for Nancy Pelosi, having been one of 31 women members and members-elect to sign a letter of support for Pelosi as “a champion of women.”

Sewell said she is pleased with the way she’s worked within the membership to ask questions and demonstrate an ability to lead, even as a beginner.

After all, she seeks seats on committees that would help her district, and the economy is at top of mind right now.

“I have stressed creating jobs and opportunity in the 7th District through investments in infrastructure, people, small businesses and technology, and those are the committee assignments I’m seeking,” Sewell said.

And Sewell has made an impact, even in these early days. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif) called Sewell’s election to Congress “just the latest of her impressive professional and academic accomplishments.”

Waters credits Sewell with a sense of history as well as being a history-maker as the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Alabama.

“This should help her be an effective representative, and I expect her to work hard on behalf of the constituents who have shown much confidence in her,” Waters said. “I look forward to working with her within the House of Representatives as a whole and in the Congressional Black Caucus on issues of importance to all Americans, where they live in Alabama or California: job creation and economic development, education and training, quality health care and more.”