Summer Camp

Summer Camp

Margaret Gearhart

I was never one of those kids that went to a sleep away summer camp during my childhood. I saw them in movies like The Parent Trap but I never got to experience that, well until May 7, 2016.  Pulling up to WISH housing is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.  As a girl with quite a hefty wardrobe the thought of sharing one room with 3 other girls was a bit daunting.  Once everything was settled and all my stuff was put away and the groceries were bought it became evident that living in a house with 13 other people (3 girls and 10 boys) is as close to summer camp as I was ever going to get.

At first it’s exciting to spend time with 13 people you’ve never met and start to get to know them all, but it isn’t always sunshine and butterflies.  WAIP starts immediately and you learn very quickly that the summer is going to be intense.  The first full week of work, class, policy salons, and study tours was, what I thought at the time, going to the most exhausting week of my life, worse than finals even.  The house lost its shiny new home sparkle and the roommates lost their shiny new friends charm.  Reality of just how extensive the summer was going to be set in extremely quick.  

This may sound like “wow she really hated this program and her roommates” but it’s the exact opposite.  WAIP provided me with the best opportunities to work and network with alumni in DC but it also gave me a group of people to lean on.  Every WAIP student has those days where they just want to crawl into bed and never get out.  These are the days where the rest of the roommates and students in the program matter the most.  Being reminded that you are 1 of only 30 Ohio State students that got selected for WAIP or that you are 1 of 9 interns accepted at your office from applicants across the country is what WAIP Summer Camp is for.  Having people there to tell you that you can compete with the Ivy League intern that sits next to you and that you can do a better job because you’re a buckeye is why the friends you make in WAIP matter.  These are the people that are going to keep you sane (and probably make you insane sometimes). The close quarters and bunk beds just give the program a summer camp feel, but the friends and activities make it an adult-ish version of what so many kids experienced when they were younger.  The memories made throughout the summer include more than just the projects you got to participate in at your internship.  They include things like kayaking on the Potomac with a friend who hates nature, taking all of Katy’s advice about everything DC and ending up at an interesting venue one Friday night, and experiencing three months in one of the best cities in the country.  WAIP is summer camp with a lot of hard work thrown in but it wouldn’t be the program it is without the best of all of it.