What a summer this has been! It feels strange that I am leaving a few days; I kind of feel like I'm supposed to live here now. D.C. is such a great city; culture and history are infused in everything here...and it's all so accessible. Let's just say it's been almost 2 months since I drove a car, and I've grown to love public transportation.
I signed up for SIWJ with intentions of being solely focused on my internship, a position with the Office of Communications and Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education (DoED). All that mumbo jumbo simply means public affairs for the DoED. While I valued my time and learning experience at DoED, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the SIWJ classwork.
(P.S. That's me INSIDE the White House gates, after my West Wing tour as a DoED intern!)
Learning how to edit video, make a piece of video journalism, and organize the process with a varied group of people was the highlight of the class for me. Through all the moaning and groaning of group work, I loved being creative in a completely different and digital way.
Now, I came at this program from a very different angle than most other students, as a recent graduate (of Harding University--go Bisons!) with a public relations and Spanish degree. I wanted to learn about the media in our classes and about public affairs through my internship. I was able to apply what I'd learned in classes and from guest speakers directly in my public affairs job.
One of my best pieces of advice for living here: make yourself a "business card" and hand them out to anyone interesting you meet--and keep in touch. Ask them advice about jobs, career paths, etc. Be saavy about it!
So what's next? Next I'm moving to Mondéjar, Spain to be a culture and language assistant in Spain for the next 8 months or so. BUT, when I get back, I'll have a good sense of where to look for a job, and I'll have a wealth of contacts--from my classmates to my co-workers--all of whom have shaped my summer into the productive, self-discovering adventure that it's been.
