Submitted by Anna Shields on the 2019 spring semester program in Washington, D.C. …
I’ll admit that I was incredibly nervous about spending my entire spring semester in Washington,D.C. I was worried about being away from all my friends in Delaware and worried about what my internship would be like and how I would get along with the other people in my program, particularly living in a house with 12 girls. I was in a constant state of stress for the entire winter break thinking about this program, but after these past two weeks, my nerves have been entirely calmed. Everyone at my internship is wonderful and very kind, as is everyone I’m living with. I’m loving the city and the amount of things to do and how accessible everything is. DC’s public transit is incredible compared to Delaware’s, and so many things are extremely walkable, which I love. Unlike most people in this program, I don’t think I want to work in Washington, D.C., at least not for the foreseeable future. I want to go back to Delaware and work in our state legislature because I love local politics, so my objective for my internship in Senator Carper’s office is to establish if I like working in a legislative office environment, and I can already tell that I do. My focus is less on networking and more on learning about the way the federal government operates and how I can best serve a legislator and a legislative office, so I can take these skills back to Delaware, and I’m learning a lot already. I love politics and it’s wonderful to be able to be in such a hyper political environment, and I’m really enjoying myself so far.