02/26/2020
As a Berkeley senior, I spent my last semester in DC as a Matsui Fellow. This experience has truly helped me jumpstart my professional career in the museum field. I interned with the National Collections Program (NCP) within the Smithsonian Institution during the UCDC program, and was asked to stay...
02/10/2020
Within a short 16 weeks in Washington, D.C., my inspiration to pursue a career in international relations was strengthened. Meeting former US Ambassadors to the UN Susan Rice and Samantha Power, former first female Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright, and even...
05/07/2018
My time in DC absolutely flew by! Having been back in California for a little over two weeks, I already miss the DC Spring weather, my UCDC friends, and my internship. The remainder of my semester was jam-packed with events, ranging from touring the Capitol Building to attending the Cherry Blossom...
03/22/2018
I’ve been amazed at how fast the semester has flown by. With just over a month left, I’m feeling the pressure to take advantage of my time left in DC. But looking back, the last two months have been packed with work and class, and I’m impressed that I have managed to do as much as I have outside of...
03/05/2018
I feel like being in this program is a life changer. In just 2 months, I've already adapted to this so-called DC lifestyle. I wake up at exactly 8 in the morning now even during my days off (without setting an alarm), sipping black coffee while I walk to work and checking twitter and news sources...
02/08/2018
Every city has a word, and Washington DC’s is policy. No matter what you’re passionate about, there is someone here doing something related to it, and usually in policy. People here know they are making history. Washington is a very different place than Berkeley. There are things about the Bay Area...
01/31/2018
As I boarded the plane at San Francisco International Airport, my mind was racing with pending uncertainties. Would I like my internship? Would I enjoy living in such a politically charged city? Would I freeze to death? Fortunately, my transition to the DC weather and the city itself was smoother...
01/31/2018
The move to D.C was not as smooth as I expected it to be. I’m used to driving 2 hours from the Bay if I’d want to see snow not like here, where I don’t even have to step outside the Washington Center to see a bed of snow. Every time I go grocery shopping, I immediately start to think about...
05/09/2017
From previous UCDC students and co-workers I heard that there was a snowstorm for over a week in the Winter of 2016. I could not help but get excited to experience my first snowstorm and potential snow days stuck at home. To the dismay of many students, this year’s “winter” passed by, just having...
03/27/2017
With less than a month left until I return home, I have been doing some reflection on my time in D.C. As a student who grew next door in Oakland, and attended Berkeley City College before transferring to UC Berkeley, UCDC has been my only “away-from-home experience”. I was definitely wary of...
