First days in DC!

As expected, I had a fast turnaround from Russia to DC. I arrived home in Cincinnati last Friday (May 18th) and left for DC on Tuesday (May 22). I had to just power through the jet lag until I got DC, where I could unpack and collapse (which I did this Wednesday). It was so nice to be able to settle in somewhere. I sort of settled into my room in St Petersburg, but I was always a guest in the apartment, not a resident. Now I'm back to making my own meals and cleaning up after myself. In short, I get to be an adult working in DC now instead of some college kid studying abroad. After resting up, I had orientation with The Washington Center on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, I headed to their Residential facility, where most of the interns live. It's located around Union Station in a nice little neighborhood and it's where I'll have my class on Monday evenings. From 6:30 to 9:30, starting on June 4th, I'll be taking "Introduction to Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure." It beat out White Collar Crime, Forensic Psychology, and Criminal Justice Policy Wars, which were also incredibly tempting choices. Anyway, on Thursday we had our program orientation, which meant I met with only the advisors and other students in the Law & Criminal Justice program. After we went over the basics of the program, we separated for lunch and then met up at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment for a Scavenger Hunt.

 On Friday, we got all dressed up in our suits and met at the National Housing Center downtown to have our general orientation for all Washington Center students.  It was a really nice building with some lovely conference rooms, even if I'm not entirely sure what its actual purpose is. We heard from several leaders of The Washington Center about what the organization's mission is and what it expects of us. We went over basics of professionalism and networking, heard more about extracurricular programs we'll be doing this summer, and interacted with students from all different program areas. It was great to get to meet other people on Friday and hear where some of them are interning. It ran the gamut from law firms to non-profits to lobbying groups. Fun stuff. I also got to formally introduce myself to my advisor and then get my professional picture taken for LinkedIn. I really hope it turned out okay because the humidity here works hard to undo everything you do to make yourself presentable. Like St Petersburg, DC is built on swampy land and therefore ridiculously humid. I need to stop picking swamp cities to live in.

Over the two days, we learned more about the extra things we do over the summer. One of the things that attracted me to The Washington Center is the fact that they engage you in a lot of different activities. You not only work at an internship, you take a class for credit, participate in service projects, attend lectures in the city, etc. Two programs students take part in are Civic Engagement Projects and Public Policy Talks on Capitol Hill. For the Civic Engagement Project, we pick one of several social issues to dedicate ourselves to. We work with the community through service projects, advocacy, etc to learn more about the issue and learn about getting involved and impacting your community. The Public Policy Talks consist of meeting with your Congressman to discuss policies and legislation. They try to hook you up with your representative, but since mine just so happens to be the Speaker of the House, I'll probably meet with my Senator or some other rep. Although the thought of having a sit-down with John Boehner is both frightening and exciting. Talking one-on-one about policy with someone so high-up would be quite an experience.

After this wonderful 3-day weekend (which is probably the most relaxing chunk of downtime I've had in months and will have in months), I start my internship. I am still incredibly excited. The President of The Washington Center spoke to us a lot about opportunity and the significance of taking advantage of opportunity. I'm naturally nervous, but I'm confident that I can prove myself if given the opportunity (which it seems I will be this summer). I've been working towards this for years and cannot wait to dedicate my summer to working hard in a field I care about with an agency I respect and admire.