A few highlights from my DC experience (stolen from Christine in Washington):
Now that I'm done with my UCDC experience (and anxiously awaiting my research seminar and elective grades), I want to reflect on my experience as a whole.
The Internship
My internship was filled with ups and downs, but I miss the State Department already and can't wait to return. Although I'm thankful to be temporarily done with the challenge of dragging myself out of bed much too early in the morning to wait for the only-on-time-when-I'm-late buses in the cold, I miss everything else about my internship. I miss all the projects I got to work on and always knowing about current events without having to hunt through a newspaper. I miss my coworkers most of all - they welcomed me with open arms and were always willing to help when I had a question. I promised I'd stay in touch, but I'm worried that I'll soon get too caught up in the winter quarter routine of schoolwork, jobs, and extracurriculars and will forget to contact them!
The last day of my internship, my coworkers threw me a goodbye party and gave me a few things to remember my experience by. As much as everyone joked around with me, saying I wasn't allowed to leave DC until spring, my coworkers all wished me the best of luck with law school applications and even offered to write me a letter of recommendation. I hope I can get back to the State Department (and maybe even the same office!) as soon as possible - the people there are talented and caring, and it was an honor working with them.
The Classes
It is an absolute relief to be done with my research seminar and elective. I enjoyed the classes and both of my professors, but it's nice not to have papers and exams looming over me anymore (although I really wish that grades would be released faster). The last week of the UCDC program was a blur of sleepless nights as I finished putting together my research paper - it ended up being 20 pages with 12 pages of sources (yes, that's 32 pages total). Ouch. I can only hope I get an A in the class! My Washington Ethics elective was not quite as intense as the research seminar, but still required a great deal of work. I had a take-home final (due last Tuesday) that was two 6-page essays and took longer than I'd expected to complete. I also had an optional 10-page extra credit paper to write (worth up to 5% of my final grade). I'm extremely grateful for that paper after only getting a B+ on the midterm, but it did not make last week very enjoyable. With all the writing for my elective class last week, I realize that the 20 pages I wrote last week alone for Washington Ethics was the exact same as the amount I wrote for my research paper. At the very least, I can now say that 10-page papers seem like a breeze after all the writing I did this past quarter!
The City
It's strange to be back in Davis, which is such a small and safe town compared to DC. While I never felt unsafe in DC, even walking to the grocery store at night or heading home from evening plays, Davis is another world entirely and I would have never dreamed of walking home alone in Washington, DC at 3:00 in the morning (as I did in Davis last Friday after the midnight showing of The Hobbit). Despite potential safety concerns of living in a big city, I really do miss DC. The pace of life is so different and I loved being surrounded by intelligent, ambitious, and well-informed people. In Davis I find so many people, especially students, who live in a bubble and don't pay much attention to what goes on beyond American borders. I've found myself explaining what the Arab Spring is to people twice in the past week, which I would have never had to do in DC.
Although California certainly has nicer weather, I am hoping to come back to DC soon and certainly plan to apply to Georgetown and George Washington for law school. It would be amazing to spend three whole years living in the nation's capital, even if I'd try to hole up in my apartment and avoid the cold from November to March.
The Program
Overall, I'm immensely grateful that I participated in the UC Washington Program. I would have missed out on interacting with ambassadors or sitting in on a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Israeli defense if I hadn't gone. I would have missed Hurricane Sandy and not have toured Georgetown, George Washington, Penn, and UVA Law. I will always look back on my internship experience and time in DC with fond memories, and I'm counting down the days until I can return to Washington and (hopefully) the State Department.
Now that I'm done with my UCDC experience (and anxiously awaiting my research seminar and elective grades), I want to reflect on my experience as a whole.
The Internship
My internship was filled with ups and downs, but I miss the State Department already and can't wait to return. Although I'm thankful to be temporarily done with the challenge of dragging myself out of bed much too early in the morning to wait for the only-on-time-when-I'm-late buses in the cold, I miss everything else about my internship. I miss all the projects I got to work on and always knowing about current events without having to hunt through a newspaper. I miss my coworkers most of all - they welcomed me with open arms and were always willing to help when I had a question. I promised I'd stay in touch, but I'm worried that I'll soon get too caught up in the winter quarter routine of schoolwork, jobs, and extracurriculars and will forget to contact them!
The last day of my internship, my coworkers threw me a goodbye party and gave me a few things to remember my experience by. As much as everyone joked around with me, saying I wasn't allowed to leave DC until spring, my coworkers all wished me the best of luck with law school applications and even offered to write me a letter of recommendation. I hope I can get back to the State Department (and maybe even the same office!) as soon as possible - the people there are talented and caring, and it was an honor working with them.
The Classes
It is an absolute relief to be done with my research seminar and elective. I enjoyed the classes and both of my professors, but it's nice not to have papers and exams looming over me anymore (although I really wish that grades would be released faster). The last week of the UCDC program was a blur of sleepless nights as I finished putting together my research paper - it ended up being 20 pages with 12 pages of sources (yes, that's 32 pages total). Ouch. I can only hope I get an A in the class! My Washington Ethics elective was not quite as intense as the research seminar, but still required a great deal of work. I had a take-home final (due last Tuesday) that was two 6-page essays and took longer than I'd expected to complete. I also had an optional 10-page extra credit paper to write (worth up to 5% of my final grade). I'm extremely grateful for that paper after only getting a B+ on the midterm, but it did not make last week very enjoyable. With all the writing for my elective class last week, I realize that the 20 pages I wrote last week alone for Washington Ethics was the exact same as the amount I wrote for my research paper. At the very least, I can now say that 10-page papers seem like a breeze after all the writing I did this past quarter!
The City
It's strange to be back in Davis, which is such a small and safe town compared to DC. While I never felt unsafe in DC, even walking to the grocery store at night or heading home from evening plays, Davis is another world entirely and I would have never dreamed of walking home alone in Washington, DC at 3:00 in the morning (as I did in Davis last Friday after the midnight showing of The Hobbit). Despite potential safety concerns of living in a big city, I really do miss DC. The pace of life is so different and I loved being surrounded by intelligent, ambitious, and well-informed people. In Davis I find so many people, especially students, who live in a bubble and don't pay much attention to what goes on beyond American borders. I've found myself explaining what the Arab Spring is to people twice in the past week, which I would have never had to do in DC.
Although California certainly has nicer weather, I am hoping to come back to DC soon and certainly plan to apply to Georgetown and George Washington for law school. It would be amazing to spend three whole years living in the nation's capital, even if I'd try to hole up in my apartment and avoid the cold from November to March.
The Program
Overall, I'm immensely grateful that I participated in the UC Washington Program. I would have missed out on interacting with ambassadors or sitting in on a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Israeli defense if I hadn't gone. I would have missed Hurricane Sandy and not have toured Georgetown, George Washington, Penn, and UVA Law. I will always look back on my internship experience and time in DC with fond memories, and I'm counting down the days until I can return to Washington and (hopefully) the State Department.
