152,804 Minutes

I have officially been a WAIP Fellow for about 104 days which equals to about 2546 hours, and a total of 152,804 minutes. The beginning of January marked the start of the hardest semester during my undergraduate career. Luckily, I chose my last semester to also be my hardest, you know, the one we are expected to slack off during the most. Instead of afternoon happy hours I found myself working 9am to 6pm with hardly even a lunch break. Instead of naps in between class I spent my time stressing out over multiple research projects and strict deadlines. I spent my final semester with OSU feeling so completely out of my comfort zone, away from all of my friends and family, thrown in with all of the other small fish interns of DC. But I wouldn't change a thing.

This last semester has taught me perseverance. I have learned the importance of existing out of my comfort zone. Surviving through the school assignments, after hour work projects, forced networking, and cohabitation with complete strangers has helped me to discover my greatest strengths and weaknesses including my ability to remain (mostly) positive in the toughest of situations, and my bad habit of oversleeping at any given opportunity. I will take with me all of the hard skills I developed while working for a public affairs team that whitewashes genocide, but also a number of skills from attempting work life balance, getting along with strangers, communicating with people I disagree with on every possible issue etc. I have learned, most importantly, that every dark cloud really does have a silver lining, even if it is buried underneath 10 feet of snow (i’m looking at you, snowmageddon 2016). I learned just how slowly time goes when you are waiting for class to be over at 9pm at night, and how quickly it goes when you are riding bikes with friends along the Potomac river bike trails. I found ways to survive weekly anxiety attacks over short and long time life decisions, and gained a real appreciation for Friday afternoon naps to help me forget it all. I have found value in surviving in the most expensive city in America while making less than 6 dollars an hour including discovering the cheapest happy hours, the easiest ways to get around the city, and the benefits of attending free events.

All in all, I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to spend my final semester in DC surrounded by hardworking and inspirational alumni, new friends, and roommates that now seem more like family. (Especially the annoying sibling who you can't wait to get away from, but then later will probably miss *cough James cough*). I will take back so many new perspectives that I cannot wait to apply to my new career working with government and the private sector starting in May, and so many new relationships I hope to build on in the future.