Blog: IGS Fellows in the World

Last Friday afternoon, October 17, I had the honor of being up close and personal with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Since the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is housed under the Department of Education, the interns are also subject to the Department of...Read more about A Brown Bag Lunch with Secretary Arne Duncan

For this blog post, I would like to discuss the difference between D.C. and California in terms of transit, and the difference between Norfolk, Virginia and San Francisco in terms of urban planning.

One of the most underappreciated parts of Washington, D.C. is its transit convenience....Read more about Here and There: Comparing Life in Different Cities

I hit the ground running in Washington, D.C. I arrived in Washington late Sunday night, spent Monday settling in to the apartment, started class on Tuesday, and went to my first day of work on Wednesday at the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. From that point on, it...Read more about A Whole New World

I suppose the right place to begin this blog post is Evans 10, in my first Macroeconomics lecture at Berkeley. The instructors, a husband and wife dynamic duo, were teaching us about the economic history of the United States starting from the Great Depression. This was a double irony. As...Read more about First Impressions: Washington D.C.

I recently had the honor of meeting Rep. Doris Matsui at the portrait unveiling of Rep. George Miller, who is retiring from Congress after forty years of service. (On that note, I also met Rep. Miller!) It was just an incredible opportunity to meet two people I admire greatly. No surprise that a...Read more about Former Fellow Continues Education Work in Washington

Life has a funny way of giving back what you put out. My semester in D.C. was like that, the more I did the more I got out of my experience. I never thought that I would be able to get into the graduate internship program at the World Bank; I never thought that I would do campaign strategy...Read more about What Goes Around Comes Around

I am sitting here in utter disbelief that my time in D.C. has come to an end so quickly. Just as suddenly as I dove into the complex and thrilling political waters of the city, I emerged drenched in new wisdom, having gained invaluable experience and incredible friendships. And the end did not,...Read more about Only In D.C.

As the end of the semester comes, the thing people have most asked me recently is what will I miss most when I leave D.C. I believe people have different experiences with this city, and so I would like to share my best memories of Washington, D.C.

1. Cupcakes...Read more about Washington D.C. the Improv City

I have absolutely no sense of direction. I still get lost even in my own hometown. Therefore, adjusting to a new city is always a long and arduous process. I have tried many methods to get myself to better understand where on earth I’m going. I have stared at Google Maps until I was blurry-eyed...Read more about Familiar Novelty

I celebrated my 22nd birthday this weekend. After indulging in several emotional waves of nostalgia and reminiscence, I found myself back in the present and highly aware of the current circumstances. I am twenty-two years old. I am in my final semester of college. I am in Washington, D.C. I am...Read more about Pushing and Pulling in D.C.

A New exploration. The main reason that drives me to participate in the UCDC program is to expose myself physically and mentally to the east coast. When I got off the plane, the breeze awakened me completely, reminding me that my journey had started!

The takeaway...Read more about My First Month as a Matsui Washington Fellow

I recently finished watching the seven incredible seasons of The West Wing. It’s absolutely enrapturing. But it’s a dramatic TV show meant to engage devoted audiences; it bears little resemblance to reality. At least that is what I would try tell myself as I fixated on the screen - mouth agape...Read more about TV Shows, Superpowers, and D.C. Reality

In the span of three days, I went from 25 degree F weather to 65 F, from craving hot chocolate in blistering D.C. cold to sipping my mother’s homemade smoothies produced with berries fresh from our humble orchard in sunny California. Talk about a jarring (yet welcome!) change of pace.

...Read more about Until We Meet Again, D.C

I still need to pack. The UCDC building kicks us out tomorrow, and that move-out date totally snuck up on me. These past weeks have been spent going to goodbye dinners for all the quarter students leaving, finishing up projects at my internship, going to professional-social holiday parties (they...Read more about DC Recap: What I've Learned From a Semester in Washington

So, a few things have changed in D.C since my last blog post. The federal shutdown ended after a grueling 2 1/2 weeks, during which the public and House Speaker John Boehner’s tears grew infinitely larger as they wept at the sad state of our nation’s democracy (or in Boehner’s case, his dismal...Read more about Learning Curves and Woodland Retreats: Navigating the Daily 9-5 Grind

The start of the federal government shutdown of 2013 coincided with a spike in temperature. I know this for sure, because I celebrated surviving the DC summer humidity with a weekend of beautiful low- to mid-70’s temperatures reminiscent of Berkeley weather. And then the government closed down...Read more about Decoding DC - What Life is Really Like in the Nation's Capital

In the past year or so, I’ve gone from India to Lafayette to Berkeley to Chile to Lafayette once again and finally arrived in D.C, realizing that I am perhaps destined to be a global nomad. I will support myself by living out my dreams of being a faux National Geographic photographer, taking low...Read more about 10 Things You Can Still Do in D.C During a Government Shutdown–For or Less!

We are happy to announce that fall 2013 Washington Fellow Tara Yarlagadda will be interning at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC)! Of the UCDC experience, Yarlagadda says:

"I have been interested in the UCDC program since I attended an informational session during the...Read more about Fall Washington Fellow Placement

We asked our fall Washington Fellows why they applied for the UCDC program and what they are looking forward to in the Nation's Capital. Here is what they had to say:

Trinh Nguyen:...Read more about Meet Trinh and Tara

We received an update from our other Washington Fellow, Alana Baum. Alana is interning at OtherWords with the Institute for Policy Studies.

"Everything in DC is going great! The weather is finally warming up, which is very exciting. I'm really enjoying my internship and my classes. I've...Read more about Another Hello from D.C.