Washington, DC: The City Run By Millennials
by Chelsea Wolgel (Spring 2017)
When you first think of Washington, the immediate thought that comes to mind is old, white guys bickering in Congress about bills, or the old guy sitting in the White House. As a twenty-one year old girl from New York, I thought when coming to Washington, D.C. I would be met by a lot of old politicians and the people I see on TV and in the news representing the government. In reality, these people only make up a very small portion of the working DC population. The rest are young, passionate people who came to DC from all over the country to fight for a cause they believe in. After spending almost four months in the nation’s capital, what I found out was that it is the young professionals, mostly in the millennial age bracket, that really run the show and have changed the city as such.
Beyond Capitol Hill and the Mall, Washington DC is a vibrant, progressive city. According to the Washington Post, since 2010 people ages eighteen to thirty six (i.e. millennials) have been taking over the District and changing the way the city eats, sleeps, works and plays. Perhaps this is why I was so surprised by DC’s young, passionate vibe. Everyone came here because they wanted to have an impact on the way America is run whether they work on the Hill, for a non-profit, a think tank or private business. Some people want to stay here forever, others want to stay for a few years and eventually go back to their home states. Others say they will leave DC in a few years and then end up staying here for a lifetime.
A collection of photos taken by BU Washington of the different speakers from this semester, all being millennial age and working for some of the biggest organizations in Washington.
The BU Washington Program every Friday takes our class on field trips to see the city. Multiple times we have taken walking tours of different parts of the District and the biggest theme is that the city is being gentrified. What that means is that places that used to be a haven for certain populations such as African Americans, Latinos or others, are now being taken over by young professionals looking to live in the district limits. Seeing a rise in condos, restaurants and bars being built to satisfy the wants of this new population reflects this shift.
During the weekends, the other students on this program and I would explore DC and found it to be a thriving place with tons of restaurants, fun activities, and places for people to enjoy their time off from work. During the weekdays, people work hard and spend their time outside work going to events like speaker series and meet and greets. People here though never really stop working. Everywhere you go, you would be expected to talk about what you do for work. Networking is a way of socializing here. But instead of it being a forced, awkward social interaction, it instead gives you a springboard to get to learn about what people are doing in DC and all the cool things happening. At a restaurant you could start talking to someone and find out they work for the organization that is sponsoring the march you are going to later that weekend. Everyone is working on interesting projects and wants to learn about what each other is doing.
A photo of Chelsea with her other co-interns at the office ping-pong table taken by one of our co-workers. You can’t get more millennial than having a ping-pong table in the middle of your office.
Looking at the working world population, every workplace I visited was mostly filled with those under the age of 35. Even where I interned, The Wilderness Society, our office was filled with young professionals just starting to make a name for themselves and starting their own families. When I would go outside to eat in Farragut Square, I would always be shocked by the number of young professionals sitting in their work clothes in the grass enjoying lunch they ordered from a food truck. It occurred to me that these people are the ones behind the organizations running Washington and will grow up to be the ones running the highest levels of our country.
If you’re young and want to make a difference, DC is a place you can thrive. When I first came to DC I felt very out of my element and like a newbie having to learn all the ropes. Now I get why things operate the way that they do and I have learned to enjoy the fast pace. DC is full of movers and shakers, and the young professionals who will be running our country one day. But for now, everyone is putting in the hours to keep the country running and making it the city I got to know this semester.
Chelsea Wolgel is a junior at Boston University studying to receive a Bachelor’s in Environmental Analysis and Policy, as well as a Master’s in Energy and Environment. This semester, she was the Communications Intern for The Wilderness Society, a non-profit that works to conserve America’s public lands and wild places.
