An Unexpected Destination

An Unexpected Destination

As Week Five of my summer in DC comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on my journey over the past few months and how I ended up in the great city that is our nation’s capitol. Six months ago I was in the same boat as many of my peers – searching for something to fill the void that was the summer preceding my final year of college. For the average college student, this time is supposed to be a developmental experience where one finds their way into the future, particularly by landing an internship aligned with their career aspirations. As a foreign language major, I had a keen interest in studying abroad and could think of few better options than spending an entire summer in another country honing my language skills. However, those plans would never come to fruition. By the time January rolled around I had yet to see any of my scholarship applications go anywhere and decided that I should find a back-up plan.

              Interestingly enough, my “back-up plan” was applying for the Washington Academic Internship Program through the Glenn School (I know, spending an entire summer in Washington, DC is quite the back-up plan). To be honest, after submitting my application for the WAIP, I was slightly surprised when I had heard that I was selected for an interview. After all, the WAIP was something that I had heard of before but hadn’t thought seriously about the possibility of actually being accepted into the program.

              Now, I have one confession to make – I went into the WAIP interview with absolutely no idea what I was in for. I had been assured by a previous WAIP participant (shout-out: Matt Shomo), that the interview was “just a placement thing” and “if you get the interview then you’re good to go.” Well, it became apparent very quickly that the interview was, indeed, an actual interview. After sitting in the waiting area watching a couple candidates who came before me leave in the typical awkward post-interview fashion, I decided that I was painfully unprepared and hoped for the best. Despite my lack of preparedness, the interview ended up going surprising well and within a few weeks I had been accepted into the program. As thrilled as I was to officially be a John Glenn Fellow, I quickly realized that the work had just begun – now the struggle to find an internship for the summer began.

              In retrospect, the experience of searching for an internship this summer was possibly one of the most developmental and transformative experiences I have had. Long story short, the final months of my semester were a spectrum of ups and downs of almost being accepted, denied, never hearing back from applications, and everything in between. As the final weeks of the spring came to a close, I was still searching, until I finally found where I am currently working – Mercury Public Affairs.

              I was highly skeptical of Mercury at first, as it seemed to be extremely far off track from my interests. However, as I know now, this could not be further from the truth. This is also where the biggest lesson I have learned throughout my WAIP experience comes into play: never limit yourself by passing by opportunities that may seem uninteresting. A year ago I could have hardly fathomed the experiences I have had, the people I have met, nor the growth I have undergone. In this city I have truly begun to find my passions and have become incredibly excited for all that the future encompasses. 

John Heinmiller