Last semester I had the incredible opportunity to live and work in our nation’s capitol. To say an internship in Washington D.C. is invaluable is an understatement. There is nothing comparable to being where all of the action takes place concerning our entire country. I was able to see the hustle and bustle of Capitol Hill on a daily basis.

My internship was an agriculture policy internship with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), which represents more than 700 of the major seed companies globally. ASTA’s mission is to be an effective voice of action in all matters concerning the development, marketing, and movement of seed, associated products and services throughout the world. ASTA promotes the development of better seed to produce better crops for a better quality of life. I cannot speak highly enough of the people I worked with in this office. They were very welcoming to me and helped me with anything I needed. I still stay in contact with them today. ASTA’s office is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria is a historic suburb of Washington D.C. I enjoyed living on the hill and then being able to commute to work on the metro. It gave me the chance to see first hand how the public and private sector work and the difference between the two.

For housing, I went through Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH). I lived in the Eastern Market area, which is a neighborhood on the hill and only 10 blocks from the Capitol Building. Since I went through WISH, all of the other people that lived in my building were 18-23 years old and also doing internships in Washington D.C. I loved getting to know the people in my building and made several friends this way. All of us came from different parts of the country and had several different policy related internships. It was interesting to hear about everyone’s backgrounds and their jobs while in D.C.

Some of my favorite memories of living in Washington D.C. are doing activities such as canoeing on the Potomac River, riding my bike to places like the White House, monuments, and Alexandria, traveling to other cities, and taking a White House Garden Tour. Some of the cities I traveled to were Baltimore, Fredericksburg, Mt. Vernon, and I also visited my aunt and uncle in St. Michaels, Maryland. On the White House Garden tour I was able to walk on the lawn of the backside of the White House. This including seeing the rose garden, the outside of the West Wing, and Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden.

I would not have been able to have this life-changing semester without the help from my advisor, Jessa, and the College of ACES. By regularly meeting with Jessa and openly communicating with her my interests we were able to come to the conclusion that I would really enjoy and benefit from a semester in Washington D.C. We both started to reach out to anyone we knew that could help, or point us in the right direction on how to obtain an internship in Washington. The opportunity with ASTA presented itself and I also had the opportunity to apply to work for an Illinois Congressman, but decided working for ASTA was a better fit for me. I am eternally grateful for everyone who invested his or her time into me. This was a semester I will never forget!