Sunsets are a weird time for me. I have always been told that they are the most beautiful time of the day. Admittedly, I cannot help but feel momentarily at ease as the warm colors of a clear sunset paint themselves across the sky. But, throughout my life, my sunset experiences have mostly been dominated by a much different emotion: anxiety. In the winter, I long for the days when darkness is fought off by warm summer air. I feel my best when I am in the sun and, therefore, sunsets have come to represent the departure of perhaps my most loyal ally. So, naturally, as I first watched that elegant and familiar painting stretch out behind the capitol, I could not help but think that it was really freaking early.
It gets dark early here. It got dark early when we first got here, and it gets dark even earlier now. I can deal with it, but I cannot deny that this unwelcome darkness can easily be viewed as an anxiety-fueled metaphor. I am graduating in a few months, and the sun is setting on college and perhaps even the cosmic concept of youth- Here I am, still a hyperbole-prone adolescent, forced to think about the adulthood that is tomorrow.
WAIP has helped me to cope with this sunset. It has served as a dusk filled with career advice, support, and a healthy dose of reality. Of course, the obvious: my internship has been an excellent experience, policy salons have provided appreciated insights, and dressing professionally has allowed me to flaunt unabashedly. But lesser known twilight has contributed to my dusk: my speed networking soulmate who told me I did not have to figure out my life until I am 26 (thank you,) the community of support and fun that has been built in our cozy dorm/house hybrid, and the random person who asked me for directions the other day ("do I really look like I know what I'm doing" I think to myself as I strut away.)
I do not have it all figured out right now, and I will not have it all figured out by the end of the semester. But the cheeky combination of the expected and unexpected that comprises this program makes me confident that one day it will all come together. So, now when I see those warm reds and yellows stretch out behind the Capitol, I still feel a familiar twinge- but I also notice a lot of pretty colors. And for that, I thank WAIP.
It gets dark early here. It got dark early when we first got here, and it gets dark even earlier now. I can deal with it, but I cannot deny that this unwelcome darkness can easily be viewed as an anxiety-fueled metaphor. I am graduating in a few months, and the sun is setting on college and perhaps even the cosmic concept of youth- Here I am, still a hyperbole-prone adolescent, forced to think about the adulthood that is tomorrow.
WAIP has helped me to cope with this sunset. It has served as a dusk filled with career advice, support, and a healthy dose of reality. Of course, the obvious: my internship has been an excellent experience, policy salons have provided appreciated insights, and dressing professionally has allowed me to flaunt unabashedly. But lesser known twilight has contributed to my dusk: my speed networking soulmate who told me I did not have to figure out my life until I am 26 (thank you,) the community of support and fun that has been built in our cozy dorm/house hybrid, and the random person who asked me for directions the other day ("do I really look like I know what I'm doing" I think to myself as I strut away.)
I do not have it all figured out right now, and I will not have it all figured out by the end of the semester. But the cheeky combination of the expected and unexpected that comprises this program makes me confident that one day it will all come together. So, now when I see those warm reds and yellows stretch out behind the Capitol, I still feel a familiar twinge- but I also notice a lot of pretty colors. And for that, I thank WAIP.
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