Thursday was move-in day which was pretty hectic. My parents moved me down and we woke up before the sun even rose to head down here. We got here around 9:30 (and got lost once along the way, sorry Dad!) and joined the other interns in the process of standing around and waiting to check-in. Eventually it was my turn and I received a plethora of information along with the essentials: pass key, entrance key, etc. We made our way up to my apartment and checked in. Not too bad! I’ll post pictures of that as soon as possible. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, closets, a living area, sunroom and kitchen. We are on a higher floor so the view outside is awesome. I do wish we had the building that viewed the city though. I met my roommates, Natalie, Sloane, and Melissa, and spent the day unpacking, running to stores, and trying to settle in. Thursday night we had a meeting with all the interns living here and then after that we all just hung out, exhausted, ready to head out to our first orientation on Friday.
Friday morning we woke up BRIGHT and EARLY! Our first orientation was at the National Housing Center in D.C. Since we only had to wear casual attire, I was pretty relieved so I was able to dress comfortably. It wasn’t a really nice day. Two of my other roommates are both in the Law and Criminal Justice Program, so we had orientation together. Our other roommate went to the same building, but a different room for hers. We heard all about TWC and the program from our Program Advisors, Robert Schendle and Amanda Raymond. They were both super nice and really laid out the program in detail for us. The syllabi were especially helpful as they blatantly state what needs to be done and when. After they spoke, we had a time to break for lunch.
Afterwards, we rushed to the Newseum for a tour courtesy of TWC. The museum was gorgeous! It was 6-7 floors of all sorts of displays ranging from photography throughout the decades to a 9/11 exhibit dedicated to the newspaper covers and media stories about one of the most unforgettable events our country has ever seen. After the tour, I headed out to the bloggers meeting at TWC and was successful in getting myself lost. I met my fellow bloggers who are all super nice and smart, and it was great to know that we were all equally excited to be showing off our blogs.
The weekend was mainly days of exploring the city and trying to understand how the Metro system works. It was definitely confusing at first, but it’s only a few days later and I totally feel like I am a professional at riding it. What people say about keeping to the right and running on the left of the escalators is true! We went and checked out Pentagon City, and their fashion center, which was gorgeous and seems like a really nice place to go on a dreary day as it is 4 stories high! Sunday Natalie and I went in search of a CVS to find the rare and elusive SmarTrip Cards to use for getting around the Metro. A word to the wise: Get these cards and get them early! They are so convenient and really are lifesavers. We also did a run-through to our internship. It's remarkably close to its Metro stop, which is awesome.
Monday we had the opportunity to hear from more speakers. TWC President Mike Smith started off the day, with us hearing from alumnus and staff of The Washington Center. One of the most exciting parts of the day without a doubt was hearing from motivational speaker Josh Sundquist. Josh talked to us about really accepting when we make mistakes in our lives and just LAUGH at them. He is a truly inspiring, energetic, and amazing person to be around. He is a cancer survivor and a Paralympic ski racer and just 25 years old. His words were definitely moving. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to purchase his new book Just Don’t Fall and snap a picture with him.
Tuesday and Wednesday I had my first couple days at my internship. As most of my information is sensitive, I can tell you that my internship is with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) and that I am going to be doing administrative work. We heard from various supervisors in the different departments and areas of the USMS, and received pretty awesome photo ID’s. Most of the interns are in some form of administration here. I am in the Human Resources department dealing with classified employee information. We will be doing field trips throughout the semester, so I will have LOADS of information about those and will give you as much detail as possible. I will also try to see as I progress this semester if there is any more information about my specific internship I can tell you.
This past week has been a complete blur and I promise to include more pictures in my next posting. This weekend there is supposed to be some wicked snow, but as soon as I go sight-seeing I will include pictures and LOTS of information about that as well.
