Students in the World
Emily in London for semester
Field Trips
International Study
Sociology students in Ciudad Juarez
A Semester in Washington, D.C.
During the Spring 2007 term, double-major Mary-Ellen Stockwell traveled to Washingto D.C for a semester in the nation’s capital. We asked her to write to us about her expereinces. This is her report.
When one thinks about Washington D.C., he or she may think about Democrats and Republicans, The President and the White House, The Metro and Georgetown University, The Washington Nationals baseball team, or even Dupont Circle, The Holocaust Museum, or the Smithsonian Buildings. When I think about Washington D.C., I think about the spring semester of 2007, where I was fortunate enough to work and live in one of the most amazing cities on earth.
Packing up your belongings and moving to a foreign apartment, with new and diverse roommates, in an extremely large city, eight hours away could seem pretty intimidating. Fortunately, my semester away was far from intimidating. I would describe it as exciting and adventurous.
While studying in Washington D.C., I was part of The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars Program. I lived in Bethesda, Maryland along with three other women who attended the program with varying interests, majors, and cultural backgrounds. My roommates were from Michigan, Indiana, and South Korea. Each roommate was individual and interesting in their own unique ways.
While living there, I worked approximately forty hours a week for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Unit, where I gained more experience and knowledge that you could ever imagine. I worked on sex abuse, rape, murder, and an all encompassing list of cases. I attended court, wrote questions and opening statements, met with victims, and met with police officers and detectives. I attended class at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia through The Washington Center and attended weekly seminars and meetings with over four hundred other interns.
It was a truly unique and exciting experience you could not find any where else. I listened to President Bush speak from about one hundred yards away. I spoke to and listened to people such as Madeline Albright, Mike McCurry, and Nancy Rubin. I went on a police ride-a-long and various protests and marches. I volunteered to help the homeless. I visited the Pentagon, The White House, The Capitol, and I went to Washington Wizards and Baltimore Orioles games. I traveled everywhere by the Metro system and by foot. I visited the Arlington Cemetery multiple times, all the Smithsonian Museums, the monuments, and even was able to experience Washington during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington D.C. is no more a tourist attraction to me, but a second home.
Overall, studying “abroad,” or off campus as some might say, was an amazing period in my life where I gained knowledge and hands on experiences that can not be found on campus or in a text book. Whether it is eight hours away in Washington D.C. or eighteen hours away in a foreign county, studying abroad opens your eyes to new things you may not have seen otherwise.
I am very thankful for this opportunity to have worked with The Washington Center through Russell Sage College and would not trade it for the world.
