#washington semester program

[harlemworldmagazine]

Hey Harlem, Become An National Urban Fellows Intern And Change The World

Hey Harlem, Become An National Urban Fellows Intern And Change The World

Carefully planned internships managed as a three-way partnership between the student, the host organization and the school are an integral part of a thorough education in the field of public affairs, providing significant benefits for each of the participants. (more…)

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[historibull]

I have a meeting on Monday to talk with someone about the Washington Semester Program!!!!!!! I’m so exciiiteeeeeddddd I’m gonna get my shit together this year and start going places

[thenextellewoods]

The First Steps

I'm incredibly excited to have been selected to participate in the Washington Semester Internship Program.  In my application and interview, I said that I would like to intern at the Department of Education.  We won't find out our internship placements until we actually get to DC in the fall, which is definitely a bit scary, but I'm trying to remain confident in the committee.  I wouldn't mind working for a South Carolina senator, but I still have my reservations about being in a republican office.  I think it would be accurate to say that, politically, I am a bleeding heart liberal hippie.  But I'm sure that wherever the committee chooses for me to go will work out just fine.  

On Saturday, March 28, I have to go back to the University of South Carolina for an all-day orientation.  So hopefully, I will feel a little bit less in the dark about things.  It's kind of strange to tell people that I got an internship in Washington, DC, but when they ask me where, I can't give them an answer.  But I'm trying to stay positive and flexible.  We'll see where this takes me!

Until next time,

Emily

[jennatakesdc]

Travel / Day One

So today was my first day in Washington DC alone. Scary stuff. Haha. Yesterday, Josh and I packed up the car full of all of my stuff and headed on over to the capital. We unpacked my stuff into my tiny dorm at American University. It was like playing Tetris trying to get a configuration for the furniture that worked. XD Also, the beds are really high off the ground. We managed to find something that works and unpacked. Grocery shopping was interesting, but that happened too. Then we went on a little tour of DC to see some of the buildings and monuments. It was getting dark so I didn't see everything too well, but it was still awesome. I can't wait to tour in the daylight.

Today was orientation day at AU's Washington Semester Program. We had a brief session this morning where they went over the standard stuff, and then this afternoon we met with our seminars. My seminar looks like it is going to be super awesome. The people seem cool, the professor seems fun, and the trip to Ghana sounds amazing. I may see an elephant in the wild, bucket list item! What we are going to learn will be interesting too. It will be an environmental course, which I am well versed in, but there will also be a lot on development, something I am less knowledgeable in. It will be an awesome experience.

So at the moment I'm just finishing my unpacking in my dorm. My roommate has not arrived yet, but I'm sure she will arrive soon. I have yet to make any friends, but I have talked to a lot of people so I'm sure I'll connect with people soon. Give it time, I'm just a little bit shy. Haha. I have an interview tomorrow with the WWF, I hope it goes well. I'm nervous. I'll guess we'll wait and see.

I'll post some pics of my dorm and the car ride sometime soon. Expect to see blog posts like this, pictures from my explorations, and little blurbs on this blog. I'm just using it to put down my thoughts on Washington and to inform my family and friends of my happenings. This semester is going to be incredible, I can't wait!

[ssgunn]

A New Chapter of an Old Adventure

I’m sitting right now in the Jackson, MS airport waiting to board my flight. In the city of Washington DC, American University is waiting for me to arrive.

About a month ago, I was accepted by Centre College to study at AmericanU for Spring Semester ‘12. During this semester, I will be apart of a program called “The Washington Program.” People of different colleges all around the country – and even the world – will be apart of the program. But, this program is not like your typical college classrooms. I will not be sitting in a desk listening to a teacher give his typical classroom lectures. No, instead, I will be enrolled in “seminars” as the Washington Program likes to call them.

I am enrolled in the Business and Economics seminars. I obviously chose this topic because it interests me the most. It is also the field I will work in after graduation. There were numerous other topics I could have chosen such as Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies, but they did not have much relevance to me.

The goal of the seminars is to “combine academic study with experiential learning [by] a blend that features policy makers, professionals, and experts.” Basically, when I attend the seminars, I will be going out and about the city meeting, listening, and learning from people who work directly in business and economics instead sitting in a classroom listening to some teacher talk.

The seminars are not the only thing that is a part of the Program. I also have two days of the week allocated for an internship. Luckily, I already have an internship lined up with a non-profit I respect a lot: the Charles Koch Foundation. It is a libertarian think-tank that advocates free-markets and liberty. I won’t go into much detail about the internship, but I am very excited about working with them.

I have not heard one bad thing about the Washington Program. All I have heard is outrageously positive comments. It is apparently good at building students’ “credentials and their professional networks,” and networking is a big reason why I decided to join.

Now that you know the basics about the Washington Program, enough with the boring stuff. Let me talk about the prospects of living in the city of Washington.

From memory, this will be my fourth time to live in DC. The first time was for a month or two when I was really young (around age 5 or 6 I think), and my father was running for congressional office at the time; the second was when I was a junior in high school as U.S. Senate Page for Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi which lasted for a semester; and the third was when I was an intern for Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi this past summer. Reflecting back on these three moments, I cannot say that this fourth time is a new adventure in my life; instead, it is like a new chapter of my existing adventures in the city of Washington DC. But, this chapter might be the most beneficial yet.

Every time I have lived in DC, it has made a lasting impact on my life in some significant way; however, the second has been the most monumental so far. Due to a full day-to-day work load and the arduous page school, my semester as a U.S. Senate Page really forced me to learn how to be an independent individual, which is a daunting task at age 16. Not only that, but the sheer environment and opportunities of being a Page sparked an ambition in me to go above and beyond the expectations bestowed on me, and this ambition has resided in me at some level ever since.

After reflecting on the impacts DC has made on my life, it makes me wonder how my returning will impact me this time around. Again, I think this time can me as monumental as my Page experience was, but my Page experience changed who I was - how I operated, how I dealt with things, how I thought. But, I think this new chapter will change me in a different aspect than that of my Page experience. The new chapter will not change who I am; instead, it has the potential to essentially pave the way of my coming future.

Let me explain. There are three fields I will most definitely end up working in after I graduate from college: startup companies, the financial sector, or politics. While a vast majority of my friends say I am going to be a politician, politics is actually the area I want to work in the least of the three. I want to work for a startup company the most, while my second choice is the financial sector. No matter which area I end up working in, Washington DC is about the most perfect place to nurture these three interests of mine all at the same time.

With the start of a new chapter, I need to set a goal myself. This goal should mature me at such a level where environments like Centre College cannot do. After taking a look at three potential work fields I will end up at, I believe Centre College nurtures the startup sector the least. I’m majoring in financial economics, so that checks off the financial sector. I feel like politics is present in every community, so there is not a lack of nourishment there. But, it seems as if there is a huge barrier in the startup sector. I have been involved in politics and finance at some level, but not with startups. Opportunities are not present with startups at Centre College, but I know this is not the case at DC. I know there is a vibrant community of startups in DC that I can take advantage of, so this should be my goal while I am here: build a network of people in the startup field.

[spexs]

Cross-Cultural Communications: Experiential Learning is the Name of the Game

Students in Easten Law’s Cross Cultural Communications class are pretty lucky. For two years, Law has been teaching Cross-Cultural Communications in the Washington Mentorship Program but, to be honest, teaching is kind of an understatement. He has drank the “experiential learning” Kool-Aid and truly believes that students learn best when they do things, see things, and can relate to their day-to-day course work. He’s in the right place because the Washington Semester Program is founded on those very principles. What types of trips and experiences do students in Law’s classes get to participate in? Their DC Neighborhood Immersion project is the perfect example. Law divides his class into groups and they are sent out to do a series of cultural observation exercises in metro accessible neighborhoods including U Street, Columbia Heights, Eastern Market, and Adams Morgan. Students observe space, time and the people that call these neighborhoods home. “We ask them to look at the architecture. What kids of buildings are there? What kinds of restaurants? We also look at time. Do people rush around really fast or do they move slowly?” The students give quick interviews and ask people on the street to describe the neighborhood in a few words. Ultimately, the students compile all of their research and write a reflection piece about their experience. One of Professor Law’s students writes, "John Dewey once said, “education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.” In life, particularly in the Cross-Cultural Communication field, I believe that learning in a classroom setting is much different than learning through life experiences...  My experience at Eastern Market reinforces Dewey’s philosophy about education: one learns from experience, not (just) reading through a textbook. Before experiencing the neighborhood, (my) first impressions were quiet and peaceful. However, once I started to understand how the people interacted with each other, my perceptions completely changed. I believe that this should be a lesson learned for future encounters with different cultures: one must experience the values and beliefs before they can really know a culture." When they aren’t doing field trips, the students are getting visits with top-notch guest speakers from DC. From the Ambassador of Belize to cross-cultural marketing experts from Ogilvy, these Washington Semester kids get to see why their course work matters in “the real world.”