Kelly King
What has surprised you the most about Washington, DC?
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.
Kelly at the Department of State, where she is interning this Fall.
While interning at the State Department in the Bureau of African Affairs, I have been able to meet and engage with over a dozen African Ambassadors the U.S., the Assistant Secretary of African Affairs, executive directors of major non-profit organizations, U.S. Ambassadors to Africa, and hopefully soon I will get the chance to meet the Secretary himself, John Kerry. I have been able to meet all of these people through events at my internship, but there have been many cases where I have gone to events at think tanks and spoken with individuals of this stature.
Many times I have also gone for informational interviews to learn more about an organization and I was subsequently either introduced or connected to the director of the organization I was visiting. And during my internship on the Hill, I would bump into the Hill’s villains and heroes daily during Capitol tours.
Living in Washington provides the unique opportunity to meet and greet some of the world’s most influential players. This Washington-norm has been one of the most surprising and pleasant aspects I have encountered thus far.
Here’s an example- a couple of weeks ago Obama and Biden grabbed sandwiches from a local place, Taylor Gourmet.
