Well—here we are—the end of a totally incredible semester. Honestly, I had no clue when I started this program that these fifteen weeks would go by this fast. Yes, there were times during the semester that I wished it would go by faster, but I truly am sad to leave. I know I won’t be able to stay away from this city for too long. This experience has really changed my life (totally cheesy, I know) and I can’t wait to move back here. There is no doubt I will be living in our nation’s capital again in the future.
My BFF from school, Kristine, came to visit me this weekend. We went shopping on Saturday—got a new Vera Bradley bag (super excited, it comes everywhere with me) and a new pair of jeans. Below are Kristine and me.
Sunday we went to the zoo, but I don’t know if we went at feeding time or washing time or something, because I swear there were no lions, tigers, pandas, apes, or gorillas. It was still fun tho! Check out this crazy large guinea pig relative:
Commencement was on Monday. I got a sweet tee-shirt and a certificate! (Everyone did… I am not special…) Following that my classmates, professor and I went out to dinner in Chinatown for our final class. Sad to say goodbye to everyone…So for lessons of the semester, instead of just the week—this is the advice I have to pass on to students coming in the summer or in the fall.
1) Be open—to your roommates, your job, your boss, a business trip, the weird people asking you for change on the street, the culture, the fact that you WILL inevitably be stuffed up against a hundred people each day in the metro, the beautiful sites around DC. That is of course to say, be safe, but be open and take in everything you can.
2) Should you not want your belongings touched I suggest keeping them tucked away in your room. Not that this has necessarily been a problem, but you’ll notice that the apartment tends to grow smaller as time goes on and sometimes things end up in the wrong hands.
3) Eat breakfast every morning. It will make a difference when 10:30AM rolls around and you still have two hours till lunch. You don’t want to be starving for the first half of your day, it will distract you and slow you down.
4) If you’re still in the process of finding an internship, don’t be afraid to step out of the box. Most everyone here does something related to law, politics, or finance. I did architecture and urban design. No, there isn’t a program for that, but I explored something I am truly interested in and have found a path that I would like to follow for my career. Don’t be afraid to explore—don’t feel like you have to choose something policy related. There are zillions of firms in DC all offering something different. I would even suggest coming up with some places on your own and having your advisor contact them. That’s what I did!
5) Bring a wireless router. End of discussion.
6) Have fun. Learn everything you can. See everything you can. Enjoy your time here.
Good luck!
