Through the "Touring"-Glass, and What An Intern Found There

I believe interning in D.C. is a very reflective experience; it shows you what you want out of education, your career, and life whether you want to hear its answer or not. This definitely has held true with my experience in D.C.. I hoped to come here to figure out where I would want to end up after college, and what I surprisingly found is that I do not think D.C. is for me in the long term, which is completely okay!

D.C. is an amazing place to work and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to figure out what they want to do after graduation. My summer has consisted of me interning with the Department of Commerce which I have exceedingly enjoyed; I love my office culture, I work collaboratively and closely with my supervisors, my work helps businesses operate domestically and internationally, and I leave every day feeling a sense of reward.

The only issue is, my work is at a macro level and I get a feeling a lot of federal government work is that way. It is hard to work closely with a community when you work at a federal level instead of a state level, and I learned that I need to be “where the tire meets the pavement” in order to feel as satisfied with my work as I can. I have loved my time in D.C. and would not trade it for the world (and who knows, maybe after I’ve worked at a more local level for a while I will come back), but more than anything I am happy D.C. has revealed to me what I need out of my career to feel full fulfillment.

On a lighter note, D.C. has also revealed that I need to diversify the meals I can cook. Eggs, ramen, French toast, and bagel bites might be amazing, but an entire summer of a diet consisting mainly of these foods can definitely wear you down (disclaimer: I do mix lots of fruits and vegetables with every meal so it’s not entirely bad). I can’t wait to head back to OSU where I can hopefully reshape my diet to be more adult instead of ‘college student.’

To properly end the summer, here are some important pictures of things you must experience while in D.C. (hopefully these are unique things you might not have heard of):

• The left picture is a statue featured in the opening of House of Cards. Your goal should be to find this statue and every location from the opening to House of Cards or you haven't experienced D.C. (coming to D.C. without having watched House of Cards is strictly forbidden).
• The middle picture is from the Bonsai Museum. This place is suuuuper chill and I definitely will grow Bonsai when I am retired now (note: I had no clue they were not little trees but little TREES). It is a hidden gem so be sure to head over to the arboretum cause that's where the museum is hidden!
• The right picture is ice cream from Thomas Sweet. This is an awesome ice cream place (pricey but worth it) located in Georgetown where both Barack Obama and Joe Biden have visited, it's also just a block away from John Kerry's house (his place isn't well known so you'll have to get lucky to realize which house is his)!

D.C. is an awesome place everyone should visit, be sure to make the most of it cause there are multiple lifetimes worth of things to do~~~~

---Benjamin Weidner