This first weekend in DC was both amazing and crazy. It started with my flight being canceled for Wednesday because of the snowstorm that was coming to Milwaukee (where I was flying out of). So instead of having a direct flight from MKE to DC that left at 8 am, I instead took a later flight that left at 10:15 am and had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Kansas City. My dad is great man though, because he braved the terrible weather to drive me to Milwaukee, a drive that normally takes just under 3 hours from our house but instead took just over 4 hours because of the road conditions. But I did finally make it to DC. That is where I met my roommates. While I am in DC, I am living in an apartment building solely dedicated to the students who are going through The Washington Center (TWC) Program. My apartment is a corner apartment, which is nice because it means it is a bit bigger than some of the other apartments. I am living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with 3 other girls. My actual roommate is a 24 year old student from Belgium named Griet (the G sounds like an H-ish). She is majoring in what is somewhat equivalent to communications. My other two suite mates are Kathy, from Connecticut, and Rhee from Texas. So far things are going well on that end and we are getting along great. The apartment has a full sized kitchen, a dining room area, a living room, 2 storage closets, and a washer and dryer in the apartment. The building we live in is called the RAF, standing for the Residential and Academic Facility.
Moving on from my living spaces, part of the reason things have been so crazy is how much stuff we have been doing. Starting bright and early Thursday morning, we had to be dressed in business professional clothing and we went to a variety of ‘classes’ on a variety of topics. I chose classes about how to best get around DC and some travel tips. I also chose the class on how to best impress as an intern during your first week of work. This included the Do’s and Don’ts of being an intern, such as asking permission before accessing information or making sure you are always asking for more work and not just doing the bare minimum.
These classes continued throughout the night. And the next morning, it was back at it again with more classes and dressing in our business casual. However, this morning, we were introduced to our LEAD classes. This is when we are split up to about 15-20 students and one mentor to help teach us about being an intern, how to network, how to find a mentor, and so on. These are the classes that we will take every Friday for 1 1/2 hours. At night, we had our Networking to Nightlife event where past alumni from TWC program came who still lived and worked in DC told us about their experiences with the program and what jobs they have now. I was able to connect with a woman named Natalie who works for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline in DC and does lobbying for that organization. We are scheduling coffee for later in February so I can get to know more about how she got to her position in her organization and more about what living in DC is like. Networking is one of the biggest parts of DC. It is a buzzword constantly said by mentors and alum of TWC. Informational Interviews, interviews where one person who is younger/ less experienced will sit down with a person and ask them questions like how they got to their career or what their career is really like, are huge here. This is something very common in DC and something we, as students participating in the program, are required to do.
Saturday is where less of the information came into play and more of the culture and ‘fun-side’ of DC came in. I was able to take a trip with other students of TWC to Old Towne Alexandria where we were able to explore the town and get to know more about the history of this cute place outside of DC. Honestly, while this program does cost a good amount, they also supply you with so many opportunities that they then cover the cost. So not only does your program cost go towards the professors who teach the night classes and the apartment building we live in, but they also have so many different programs they call ‘extended learning opportunities’. So I am trying to go on as many as I can to get the best experience that I can get in DC. On the rest of Saturday, my suitemate, Kathy and I went on the Metro for the first time trying to figure out the quickest way to our intern sites. One thing I learned from this experience is that you are going to get lost and that is okay. Google maps isn’t always the most reliable with walking paths so you will wander around for awhile and that is totally normal. Luckily we finally found our way to the train station and then eventually found our way to our intern sites after, again, getting lost for awhile. However, it is sometimes really cool to get lost in DC. Because while we were chasing the wrong address of my intern site, we found some of the embassys of places like Chile and Peru, which is something I have never seen. So, sometimes, getting lost is better than knowing exactly where you are going.
Another thing I discovered is that you need to try new things. My professor, Dr. Sappleton, recommended this Ethiopian restaurant to me before I left.
I convinced Griet and Kathy to come with me for this new experience. If I hadn’t gotten a recommendation to go to this type of restaurant, I probably would never have voluntarily gone for this type of food. However, this was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had with eating at a restaurant. There is no silverware, but instead they give you bowls of your main dish and these huge crepe-looking bread items that you use to pick up your main dish. So you tear these ‘rolls’ and use it to pinch your food and this is how you eat this type of food. While I didn’t discover my new favorite type of food, this still was one of the coolest experiences I have had a restaurant. So if you end up studying or living in a new place, don’t always go for the same type of food that is most comfortable to you. There are always so many things to try that might end up being a great experience.
On Sunday, there was an opportunity for some of the TWC mentors who live in the building with us to take us on a walking tour of NoMa, the neighborhood we live in. I went on this tour and was able to see some of the different shops and restaurants in our area, even more than before when my suitemate, Kathy, and I went exploring on Friday. NoMa is an extremely beautiful part of DC and is a great neighborhood to live in. I then took some downtime after this because this weekend was extremely exhausting and I knew this would be a busy week starting my internship. In my next post, I will be talking about my first few days of working in DC.
Wisconsinite Living in DC 