By Kayla Doyle
Fall 2013
At my office at the VA HQ
In Washington it’s hard not to follow the issues – they seem to surround you, permeating all facets of life from school work to conversations in the coffee shop. It’s a virtual haven for the politically-minded, like myself, who may sometimes overestimate their friends interest in the subject. This past fall has certainly been an interesting time to be in D.C. with a range of important and controversial proposals and events dominating the headlines, including the Government Shutdown, the Affordable Care Act implementation and subsequent problems, sexual assaults in the military, NSA leaks, and the Iran Nuclear Weapons deal. Still, for me one issue has become more important than the rest – the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA.
By Kelly King
Fall 2013
After spending two consecutive summers interning in Washington, I was prepared to begin my academic semester here with a level of comfort in the city that would help me balance classes, an internship and a social life in this exciting town. What occurred to me throughout the first few weeks with my new classmates was that they were experiencing for the first time everything I already enjoyed about this city. I loved the free events, transportation simplicity on the metro, the international flavor of its people and the intense energy that emanates from the politicians, interest groups, and interns like me. I have now adapted and appreciated the bustle of the city, but what has always and will continue to surprise me is the access one can have to high level people and influential policy makers in Washington.
By Taylor Hartz
Fall 2013
Joy, Brittnee, Kelsey, Myself, Shelby, and Sidney (L-R)
From the moment we arrived in D.C., we were taught that in addition to our college degree and internship experiences, real world connections would be essential during the post-grad job hunt. The word “network” appeared on every orientation hand-out and came up in all our discussions, helping us to understand that if we planned to get a handle on networking, this was the place to do it.
By Shelby Carignan
Fall 2013
By some stroke of luck, I got to spend semesters abroad through BU both in the U.S. and abroad. Studying abroad for a semester is on the bucket list of most college students. It’s an especially big part of the BU undergraduate experience, since they’ve got programs literally all over the world. Most students looking to study abroad probably don’t even consider the idea of studying within the U.S. at BU’s campus in D.C. or LA, but if a student wants to have their professional goals at the center of their experience, domestic programs give students a unique edge that they won’t get abroad or in Boston. Having experienced studying with BU’s program in Paris, France and being halfway through the D.C. journalism program here, I think I’ve got a sense of the pros and cons of each.
By Brittnee Exum
Fall 2013
My internship at Fox 5 News has everything to do with my major, broadcast journalism. I aspire to become a television news reporter. Inside the Fox newsroom, I am surrounded by seasoned journalists who tell compelling stories. Many times, I’m able to accompany reporters on their assignments. I get to be a part of the news production process from start to finish.
By Shelby Carignan
Fall 2013
By some stroke of luck, I got to spend semesters abroad through BU both in the U.S. and abroad. Studying abroad for a semester is on the bucket list of most college students. It’s an especially big part of the BU undergraduate experience, since they’ve got programs literally all over the world. Most students looking to study abroad probably don’t even consider the idea of studying within the U.S. at BU’s campus in D.C. or LA, but if a student wants to have their professional goals at the center of their experience, domestic programs give students a unique edge that they won’t get abroad or in Boston. Having experienced studying with BU’s program in Paris, France and being halfway through the D.C. journalism program here, I think I’ve got a sense of the pros and cons of each.
By Kelsey Hopper
Fall 2013
Left to right: Joy, Brittnee, myself, Taylor, Shelby and Shujie.
The first week of my semester in DC was filled with getting to know my new classmates and learning more about Washington DC. The orientation week allowed us to all get to know each other better, and discover the new city we would be living in. Our program coordinators brought us to local, well known places to eat including Busboys and Poets, and Ben’s Chili Bowl. We went on a tour of the Capitol and learned how to use the metro and bus systems too! We learned about the culture of Washington and how to best network and be professional in our new environment.
By Brittnee Exum
Fall 2013
My internship at Fox 5 News has everything to do with my major, broadcast journalism. I aspire to become a television news reporter. Inside the Fox newsroom, I am surrounded by seasoned journalists who tell compelling stories. Many times, I’m able to accompany reporters on their assignments. I get to be a part of the news production process from start to finish.
In the morning, I attend a daily meeting where producers, reporters, writers, assignment editors, the news director and other team members develop the content for the evening newscast. Reporters pitch stories and many times are assigned to breaking news stories. The news team also decides what other stories they will talk about in the newscast and possible guests they may want to bring in to elaborate on a topic.
By Kelly King
Fall 2013
After spending two consecutive summers interning in Washington, I was prepared to begin my academic semester here with a level of comfort in the city that would help me balance classes, an internship and a social life in this exciting town. What occurred to me throughout the first few weeks with my new classmates was that they were experiencing for the first time everything I already enjoyed about this city. I loved the free events, transportation simplicity on the metro, the international flavor of its people and the intense energy that emanates from the politicians, interest groups, and interns like me. I have now adapted and appreciated the bustle of the city, but what has always and will continue to surprise me is the access one can have to high level people and influential policy makers in Washington.
By Kara Korab
Summer 2013
Every Friday the BU Washington program takes us on mini-outings all around DC. These field trips have included places such as the National Portrait Gallery, the Pentagon, the National Bulding Museum (read Vlad’s blog post about that), a Washington Nationals baseball game, and countless others. Being from the DMV (That’s DC, Maryland, Virginia to you non-Mid-Atlanticers) area, I didn’t expect to be wow-ed by any of the places we went. After all, I’ve been doing field trips to the National Mall since elementary school.
