{"id":6778,"date":"2022-04-15T13:50:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T18:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=6778"},"modified":"2022-04-15T13:50:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T18:50:37","slug":"the-trials-and-times-of-a-semester-in-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=6778","title":{"rendered":"The Trials and Times of a Semester in DC"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Devon Mitchell<\/span><\/p>\n

Studying in Washington DC has been a dream of mine for five years, and now that I am only two weeks away from the conclusion of my Washington Semester, I can\u2019t help but reflect on my time here and if it\u2019s everything I dreamed of.<\/span><\/p>\n

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I began preparing last fall. I pored over internship applications and tried to figure out exactly what I wanted to do. Going into the DC semester I felt like a freshman again, adjusting to a new place and making new friends. I had romanticized my time, thinking I would go to museums every day, fall in love with the work I was doing at my internship, and enjoy learning in the nation\u2019s capital. This experience would prepare me for my career in DC post-graduation. Truth be told, the opposite happened.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I still love Washington DC. The architecture and history are things I have always loved, but over the past semester, I have found myself missing the mountains and air of living in the Roanoke Valley. I look out my window every day and see Capitol Hill, wondering why I put this city on a pedestal when the last thing I have ever wanted was to become a politician. There\u2019s more to DC than just politics but it feels like everyone is in such a rush to climb the career ladder networking their way up. DC is fast, loud, and exciting. I\u2019ve enjoyed the experience, but I long to scrape my knees trying out a new hike and get my hands dirty at a Habitat build.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to discount the opportunities I\u2019ve had. I found a way to combine my professional interests through my internship and gained incredible experiences. I\u2019ve met new people and nourished relationships I know will last a long time. I was exposed to new music and got to see some of my favorite artists perform live. None of this would have been possible if it hadn\u2019t been for this semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

My time in DC has been enlightening and I look forward to applying my experiences in my unique ways. I\u2019m sad to leave, but I can\u2019t wait to get back to Roanoke.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Devon Mitchell Studying in Washington DC has been a dream of mine for five years, and now that I am only two weeks away from the conclusion of my Washington Semester, I can\u2019t help but reflect on my time here and if it\u2019s everything I dreamed of. I honestly had no idea what I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-6778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-summer2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}