"These Are a Few of My Favorite Things"

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright cooper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things!" -Julia Andrews in The Sound of Music

Much like Maria going to stay with the von Trapp family in The Sound of Music, I came into a whole new world coming to DC. And I am extremely grateful for the chance I had to live in our nation's capital. This past semester was filled with many memories that I will always carry with me. My WAIP experience gave me a lot of things that were my favorite, but here are a few of them.  And while they don't include raindrops, kittens, kettles, mittens or brown paper packages, they still helped me to have an unforgettable DC experience! 

1.) The Cupcake Scene:

I am an avid lover of cupcakes, and DC's cupcake scene was one of the best ways to indulge in this love. Chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, strawberry, any way you make it, I will love it! (* there is an exception with carrot cake, that I will never love). As a result, I conducted somewhat of an informal experiment during my 15 weeks here, trying to find which cupcake place in DC offered me the best cupcake. My experiment was controlled, I had the same flavor at every cupcake place I tried- peanut butter and chocolate. After numerous trials, my personal favorite was Baked and Wired in Georgetown because of the high-quality cake, but Georgetown Cupcake came in at a close second due to their excellent ratio of cake to frosting. But, I will note, I never had a bad cupcake at any cupcake place I tried! 

2.) Having DC as Your Backyard:

I cannot emphasize enough how cool it is to live in DC. The amount of history here is incredible and being able to hop on the metro, walk, bike or Uber to all of the amazing places DC has to experience is beyond wonderful. This city is so diverse and each of its neighborhoods is unique in its own way. In addition, you cannot beat the location of the house during WAIP. Having the National Mall, Capitol and Supreme Court as your backyard is surreal, and I highly encourage you to take advantage of this by going to see the monuments at night! 

3.) Learning More About Yourself:

Coming into WAIP, you get a somewhat good idea of what to expect. Sure there are nerves and a little bits of the unknown, but you generally know what your week will typically look like, where you are interning, where you are living, etc. However, I didn't expect to learn so much about myself. Living outside of Ohio for the first time, getting to choose my internship site and working there for three months, getting to do a lengthy policy paper on a topic I picked and other things helped me to get a much better idea of who I am as a person. I came into a whole new world in DC, but this, in return, helped me to grow. 

4.) TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS: 

Five letters, but so amazing. I will admit, coming to DC I had no idea what tapas were (in case you don't either: they are cuisine appetizers that you order a bunch of and share!)  But luckily I was paired with a roommate who loves them! And lucky for both of us, DC loves tapas. While tapas exist outside of DC, I will surely miss the deep love of tapas that DC yields. 

5.) Seeing Everyone's Different Passions: 

No person is the exact same as another person, and this was one of my favorite parts of living in and experiencing DC. When you talk to different people, they have different things that really drive them. Different passions.While for some it may be education, others it may be defense, others science innovation. Whatever the passion may be, it is so wonderful to see how different passions come together to make up this city and that person's career. 

6.) Teddy Roosevelt Island: 

This, in my mind, is one of DC's best kept secrets. Whenever you need a break from the city life of DC and/or need a little nature in your life, go see Teddy Roosevelt Island. 

7.) The Ohio Love. 

I am biased: I think Ohio is one of the best states to be from. But coming to DC and seeing the amazing Ohio and Ohio State networks that makes up this city only solidified my biased. While you may be six hours away from Ohio, it is never all that hard to meet a fellow Ohioan. You may be at Union Station or the National Gallery and all the sudden, you see those familiar scarlet and gray colors on a shirt. In addition, the amount of Ohio related things in DC is wonderful! The Ohio Birthday Party (which includes a Ohio Birthday Cake), the Scarlet and Gray brunch, meeting some wonderful alumni doing some pretty amazing things, talking with both Senators about how they are connected to The Ohio State University, getting to have a mentor that is an Ohio State alum, and many other things all contribute to help keep the Ohio love strong in our nation's capital. O-H! 

While my list of my favorite things could go on, these are just a few! While my time in DC is coming to end, I'm excited to know that someone else's is just about to begin, and that they too can start their own list of their favorite things! 

-Claire