Those Who Have Come Before Us

During my freshman year at Ohio State, I lived in a building called Baker Hall East. Baker East, or the BEast, as we lovingly called it, is one of the oldest Residence Halls on campus. My roommate and I thought it was interesting to think about how many people had probably lived in our room before us. Every so often, we would get a small reminder in the form of some piece of mail (like advertisements and coupon books) addressed to our room with an old tenant’s name on it. As a joke, every time the name on the mail was new, we would cut out the name and address and tape it to our wall under a label that read “Those Who Have Come Before Us”.

Below: Me as a freshman in Baker East and a photo of Baker East at night

                  I couldn’t help but find myself thinking of this phrase as I started my internship. As my new office greeted me with a warm welcome, they told me all about their previous intern, who also was from OSU and was in WAIP as well. They told me about what she had worked on, asked me if I knew her, and told me how much they loved having her around and missed her. Many of the assignments I got at the beginning of Summer were things that the previous intern told me I would get to do “if I worked hard”. I realized that I was being assigned these tasks at the beginning of my internship because the previous intern had already proven that interns could do them. Eventually, I found out there was an OSU intern in my office before the previous intern as well. My office now loves and respects OSU interns as good, helpful interns that they like having around. Without those who have come before me, I wouldn’t have the internship I have, I wouldn’t be doing the tasks I’ve been doing, and I wouldn’t go wherever this Summer ends up leading me.

                  Beyond the previous interns at my internship site, this Summer has kept me aware of all the people who came before me and those who have supported me directly or indirectly to get me to where I am today. The namesake of our Glenn College, Senator John Glenn, and his family have largely made it possible for me to study what I’m passionate about. The Staff, Faculty, and mentors at and affiliated with Ohio State have also helped me in countless ways. Each friend who has called, texted, or visited me on weekends has supported me in my busy Summer in DC. Without them I don’t think I would have been as successful here as I have been. Of course, the support and love of my family has been the foundation of any success I have had or ever will have, here or anywhere else.

Below: a few of my friends who visited me this Summer

In addition to all of those groups who can be easily identified as having gotten me to where I am today, this Summer I have learned about countless people, who I may never know, who have helped me in indirect ways. On Memorial Day, I heard stories of those who fought for our country and their families. At the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, I learned about women who struggled, fought, and suffered for my right to vote and participate in government. At the Vietnam Memorial, I found the name of Jon T. Busch, who has a Residence Hall in his name at Ohio State where I worked last year. So many alumni in DC have offered their time, advice, and support to us throughout the semester.

Below: a photo from an event I attended where I heard from a panel of women discussing Title IX- Based on this event I decided that cookies and strong women are my happy place

A couple weeks ago, as I joined the American Association of University Women for their weekly lobbying day, I was partnered up with a woman named Anne to visit a few offices. As it turned out, Anne also went to Ohio State when she was younger, and I was so delighted when we realized that we had both even lived in Baker Hall East! Ohio State was different when Anne attended though. I was confused when she told me that when she lived there, Baker Hall was divided with boys on the East side and girls on the West side, instead of both sides being co-ed. I was even more surprised when she told me that when she went to Ohio State, women had to wear skirts in the Dining Halls. They could only wear slacks during breakfast. But here Anne was, all these years later, lobbying so students like me can achieve a discrimination-free education.  It struck me that it’s taken many people across the nation (and the world- shout-out to my ancestors) to allow me to be where I am today and exist in the world in the way that I do. I am lucky that people like Anne, who lived in Baker East just like me, is one of Those Who Have Come Before Us.

-Athena Patitsas