“How’s D.C.? I’ve seen you’re pictures on Snapchat it looks like you’re having a cool summer.”
Such is a standard greeting amongst millenials in this day in age. I heard this a few times from friends earlier this summer upon returning to State College for Arts Fest, and although taking pictures of Georgetown Cupcakes (among other things) has certainly been entertaining, it’s been only a small piece of why I’ve cherished my summer as a member of Penn State’s Washington Program.
This summer I worked with a start-up company called Librii, a 501©(3) non-profit aiming to build a network of libraries across Africa. Currently stationed out of the Halcyon Incubator in Georgetown, I got a wide range of duties aimed at getting the project off the ground while working in an office filled with some amazing social entrepreneurs. After minoring in Entrepreneurship and being involved with THON at Penn State, working with an effort that’s both philanthropic AND entrepreneurial resulted in a stimulating work experience. To put things simply, I haven’t had a single morning where I woke up and didn’t want to go to work that day.
My favorite part of this summer might be the fact that I’m the only Penn Stater in my office. If any of my co-workers were unfamiliar at all with what to expect out a Nittany Lion, I made sure they were caught up to speed. (My boss goofed up his first “We Are” chant that he yelled at a car with a Penn State license plate. I gave him an A for effort though).
Aside from working with Librii, I’d say my Washington Program experience was defined by what I learned outside of the work environment. Let me tell you, being in a city with one of the largest Penn State alumni contingents is SO rad. I absolutely love our alumni. Living in the same Arlington apartment building with 19 other Penn Staters was neat to say the least too. What’s not to love about seeing new friends take in their own incredible work opportunities in one of the world’s coolest cities?
In this short post I’ve used the work “experience” a lot, and with good reason. The Washington Program isn’t simply a work opportunity for undergraduate students or a chance to live in DC; it truly is a multi-faceted ordeal that allows you to grow quite a bit in many ways. All in all, I’m thankful for the groundwork that was laid in the program over the past 20 years, and even more thankful that I’ve been able to be a part of it these past two months.
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