A Semester “Abroad” in DC

I’ve been in Washington, DC for almost 2 weeks. Saying that feels so weird; it seems as if  I’ve been here forever. As I have started to feel the inherent exhaustion that comes with working a 9-5 internship four days a week, I cannot help but reflect on the amazing experiences I have already had while here in DC.

Of which, the visit to the National Mall, home to the famous monuments (including the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, among others) has been the most unforgettable.

I have only been to DC once before in my life. I was a curious high school junior, visiting George Washington University as well American University. As we drove into the city – and past our hotel about 5 times (my Dad used to be notorious at getting us lost about 5 minutes before we got somewhere. I can easily say I’ve been lost on the way to about 12 colleges) – I was amazed. Unfortunately, we had so little time to do any of the sight-seeing, and we left the next day without having visited a single tourist attraction.

I arrived in DC for Boston University’s Washington Internship Program on January 16, at about 2pm. After a few days of settling, my roommates, some of our neighbors and I decided to check the biggest tourist attraction of all off of our lists: the National Mall.

We arrived at Farragut North Station and exited the metro, which is a cleaner, prettier version of the NY City Subway and makes the T seem like the third level of hell. We walked a few blocks, wondering when we’d hit the monuments, and there it was. This giant, white house behind a guard rail fence. There was a press conference going on at the time. After some debate between our group over how that could possibly be THE White House, as it was incredibly close to the street and in plain sight, we realized we were, in fact, in back of it. After taking pictures of both the back and front of the building (and the snipers perched on top), we headed towards the monuments.

The Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, The Korean War Memorial, the Reflecting Pool. My roommate, Marlene, and I staggered about 10 minutes behind the rest of the group and took about 20,000 pictures of everything (and us WITH everything). We reached the end of the reflecting pool finally, and began to climb the massive steps to the Lincoln Memorial.

When I got inside, I felt a genuine awe. I have never been so amazed by a statue, ever. That picture that I had seen a million times in movies, commercials, TV shows, and even on currency was directly in front of me. The symbol of American liberty was 5 feet from my eyes.

I cannot say for sure that this individual experience changed my life, but I do know that so far, DC has begun to make an impact. And by the end of this semester, after having seen a million more fascinating and amazing sights, I can say with 99% certainty that my life will never be the same. DC has captured my heart.