Since I’ve arrived in D.C. everything has been tremendously busy. I don’t think I comprehended the schedule that I would be subject to before I actually got here and started living it. The bustle is not all bad, I much prefer to be busy than be bored. I’ll usually wake up and talk with my roommate for a bit while we get dressed and ready, then a full day of either classes or my internship starts. I have been interning at Atlas Corps, an international development non-profit, for about two weeks now and the experience is phenomenal. The majority of my time is spent dealing with international “fellows” that are chosen by Atlas Corps to come to America and work in a domestic non-profit for a year and then return to their home country. Some of my peers are not exactly thrilled about their internship placement, so it makes me even more grateful that I enjoy my work.
As far as classes, the Justice & Law concentration seems like one of the more intensive and strict concentrations so far. This seems good because it means I’ll be learning more, but it doesn’t exactly help for the already packed and stressful schedule I have.
The people that I have met in D.C. so far are perhaps what makes this trip worth it in the most immediate sense. The anxieties I had about meeting people that I expressed in my first post are still there to a certain extent I suppose, but I have met so many amazing people that are complex and varied in their interests but all genuinely good people.
I will soon have to start interviewing academics and think tank professionals for my research course in order to get a fleshed-out version of my research proposal. This second step of the academic program makes me a bit nervous because it essentially involves cold emailing and calling people that have better things to do than get coffee with an intern, but it will be a learning experience regardless.
This is just a rough outline of the developments so far, I’ve been thinking about possibly writing a more focused post on a specific topic or aspect of the experience.
Until next time.
Brandon Manbahal