Disclaimer: I am the self-proclaimed softest girl alive™ so
prepare yourself for an overly sentimental lexical experience.
Our WAIP orientation was full of nuggets of wisdom regarding
ways to survive and thrive in Washington. Amid the logistic advice about
navigating the Metro, and saving money as an unpaid intern, I was particularly
interested in the idea of the 18 strangers sitting around me becoming some of
my best friends. Like most of us in the program, I have plenty of amazing
friends at Ohio State, and quite frankly wasn’t feeling particularly urgent to
find new best friends. I was interested in my fellow cohort members and looked
forward to getting to know them, but had no idea they would be the most
thoughtful, interesting, generous, kind, motivated individuals I have ever met.
In eight short weeks, they have become some of the truest friends I have ever
made and I continue to learn new things about them while making new memories every
day. In a very special way, they have become a little family unit to me and
have supported me, annoyed me, made me laugh, made me think, impressed me, and
loved me as any family would. This program is incredibly demanding, but is more
than possible with good friends by your side. Every day is an adventure in this
program, but I’ve highlighted just a few the many moments that you will be
thankful for this new little family below.
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| WAIP Ladies Day! One of the most iconic outings of the semester |
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| Me blissfully enjoying Times Square with two people I met 7 weeks prior to the photo being taken |
Four Times in which your new family comes in handy:
1)
When you forget your required second form of ID on
your first day of work, prohibiting you from receiving a staff badge
a.
Just as your real family always does, your WAIP
family will bail you out. After just 5 days of living with them, they will meet
you halfway down Constitution Ave with your passport which they retrieved from
your underwear drawer so you are neither late nor unprepared on your first day.
2)
Your first absolutely atrocious,
good-for-nothing, horrendous day of work
a.
Maybe you got screamed at by constituents on the
Hill all day, maybe you sifted through hundreds of case files for 8 hours with
the paper cuts to show for it, maybe a bus full of 8th graders told
you to your face they’ll never come back to the National Archives then a
veteran asks you if you have any idea how badly you’ve stirred their war demons
by asking them to speak on a panel. Who’s waiting in the living room the moment
you walk in the door? Your WAIP family. Ready and waiting to hear all about it!
And suddenly you’re laughing about the whole thing and aren’t totally,
completely dreading going in tomorrow.
3)
The 60th Annual Grammy Awards are on
a.
Maybe this is just me, but no award show watch
party is truly complete without a healthy dose of familiar bickering and yelling.
Your WAIP family is there to yell at you when you’re talking but their favorite
artist is on screen, or when you muted the TV during commercials and are one
tenth of a second late in turning the sound back on. They’re also right there
ready to fight about who they think should have won, how incompetent you are regarding
Grammy fashion, or who owes who for the 5 pizzas you have devoured. Feels like
home!
4)
Your first WAIP Cry™
a.
It will happen. It hits some sooner than others,
but I can nearly guarantee right around the five week mark when you’re no
longer running on pure adrenaline, but you still stay up late getting to know
your roommates, you have eaten the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for
thirty-five consecutive days, your friends back at home at OSU got out of bed
at noon just to show up to class in pajamas then end their evening at a
concert, your work shoes feel too uncomfortable, your purse feels too heavy…and
you just lose it. They’ll be there to pat you on the back, talk you through it,
and snap you out of it. There’s no crying in baseball and there’s no crying in
WAIP! No time to waste being anything but happy here!
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