I’ve definitely hit the ground running. As a National Security, Intelligence, and International Affairs Research Intern at the Institute of World Politics, I’ve been mentored by an Ambassador, numerous professor-practitioners, a defense contractor, and inspiring academics. I’ve met high-ranking officials in the military, air force, and navy, and the most inspiring non-profit changemakers at the grassroots level. Washington D.C. is an amalgamation of people making an impact not only for the nation, but also for the world.
My Monday mornings consist of waking up at around 6am, studying for Economics of Public Policy and Urban Studies, the two courses I’m taking at the UC Washington Center. I also tutor my student from Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya through the U.S. university application process, having something to chow down on, and preparing to present my intelligence briefings that same morning at my internship.
My Tuesdays mornings are more relaxed, waking up at 8am to conduct research for my internship on U.S. and China Policy in the Indo-Pacific, catching up on emails, and doing some studying for the Arabic class I’m also taking at the Language Institute. At around 5:30pm I head over to the Institute of World Politics for an Alumni meeting and walk briskly in my heels back to the UCDC Center for my Urban Studies lecture from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. After 9:30pm, I either grab some gelato at Dolcezza or study for the graduate class on Western Moral and Political Thought, which I am privileged to take as part of my internship at the Institute.
My Wednesdays are a bit hectic. I wake up at 6am, research and write my intelligence briefing for the next week, submit it, then go to the Institute for my internship. At my internship, we do wargaming, and philosophize the Aristotelian way in our Graduate-level class: Western Moral and Political Thought. I spend the hours after my internship to attend a meeting for my fellowship. In September, I was selected as a Fellow for the Paragon Policy Fellowship where I am conducting research on the critical minerals infrastructure and supply chain ecosystem in North Carolina, delivering policy recommendations for our local partners. Our meetings on Wednesday provide a space to assign roles and responsibilities to deliver for our local partners.
My Thursdays are a little more relaxed. With the government shutdown, my internship had to postpone our visits to government agencies, and so provided some time for me to sleep-in until 9am, work on some Arabic class homework and Economics of Public Policy class readings, and then attend class from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. My Fridays are full of research then a research team meeting where we present our literature reviews, and briefs on our current findings from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. What happens after 8:00pm is a secret. My Saturdays are for my Arabic classes in the morning at the International Language Institute, then relaxed study sessions in the classrooms until the evening. Sunday mornings are for Farmer’s Market visits with friends and cooking sessions at night. Once, we made ratatouille and watched Ratatouille while eating ratatouille in our apartment. It was a lovely inception (pun intended).
My time in Washington D.C. has been full and busy, but beautiful. I haven’t even included my scheduled coffee chats nor my museum visits. Nor of the interesting web of relationships I’ve built while being here. For instance, someone on my research team is a national guard, yet I also saw friends from my UCDC cohort wary of visiting our national monuments because of the three sets of national guards ordered to “keep the peace” stationed by every museum and at every corner of our area. Admittedly, I did experience some stressful moments, and definitely had some well-needed dancing, but I wouldn’t have changed it for anything else in the world.
Watching the sunrise by the Lincoln Memorial, walking through the National Mall, meeting and making friends with those I continue to be inspired by, seeing Vietnam War and Korean War veterans take pictures at the World War II Memorial, and having deep talks about our state of the world today with our nation’s foremost current and future policymakers has made it all worth it.