I’ve been thrown into life as a college freshman at The George Washington University, a resident of the District and an intern at Street Sense. My first few days were spent adjusting to the humidity and running around on the Metro with my mom, trying to get everything in order for my first semester of college. I haven’t stopped running since.
Just three days after my cross-country trip, I found myself sitting alone in my white-walled, unfamiliar dorm room wondering what in the world I had been thinking by deciding to leave everything I know for a school thousands of miles from home.
Three weeks later, I am not only slightly more overwhelmed, but extremely excited about and well aware of the wealth of opportunities that await me in this city.
My first few days at school were spent with a program called Community Building Community, where I was shuffled around different neighborhood doing various community service projects. Two days later I was officially jolted out of my summer state of mind with an 8 a.m. alarm and the reality of college classes – and the workload to go with it. But what I hadn’t realized was that my opportunities to get out into the city had only just begun.
In addition to my hours spent studying in various locales around the city: the Lincoln Memorial (which I have shamelessly bragged about to my friends back home in L.A.), the duck pond on the National Mall, and of course in a study nook at the school library, I’ve been contacting local organizations for internship opportunities and trying desperately to familiarize myself with the Metro so that I don’t have to leave over half an hour early for an internship merely three stops away.
I’m not sure I will ever feel as though I have seen all of the different sides of this incredibly diverse city. But I know now that I will by no means be confined to classrooms and the library at school. Getting an education in D.C. means more than hitting the books, it means getting out of my comfort zone and taking every opportunity that comes your way. Though I know it won’t be easy, I can’t wait to see all that my next four years in D.C. will bring.
