Washington Whirlwind

It has been 24 hours since I arrived in Washington, and it has already been an eventful experience so far.  On Saturday I attended the welcome dinner at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, where all of the members of the three DC winter seminars were gathered.  This event kicked off the program and gave students the opportunity to interact with their new classmates.  Afterwards we headed back to our DC housing and got a much needed night’s rest.  Sleep, we learned, was going to be a valuable commodity over the next ten days.

The next morning we made our way over to the William & Mary Washington Center.  We started the day with a nice catered breakfast and sat at assigned seats in order to meet different people. At each seat there was a packet of information, including safety precautions, group activities, and even a DC bucket list.  Each student was also given a set of personalized business cards to assist with future networking.  We then had a team building competition between the tables: whoever could build the tallest structure out of balloons (aptly colored green and gold) and name each person at the table including their favorite foods would be the winner.  After a few minutes the judging began and my table was declared the winning group, securing us free movie passes as our prize.  Later in the morning, the Director of the William & Mary Washington Center, Adam Anthony ’87, gave students a Networking 101 presentation.  He discussed how to approach speakers and other professionals in order to make effective connections.  He also noted the importance of always having business cards on hand, what type of questions to ask, and how to follow up with a contact.  It is incredibly valuable to have these networking skills as we progress further in our education and careers, and I am glad that we had the chance to learn more about networking at the beginning of this program.  From the speakers in class to a speed networking dinner one night, Anthony’s tips will definitely be useful over the course of this program and beyond.

Around twelve noon we had an hour break for lunch.  This was a great time to talk more with students in the program, especially those who we might not otherwise have had the chance to meet outside of our classes.  After the hour break, the three seminars (American Politics, International Relations and Urban Education) split into their respective classrooms.  My class in international relations reviewed the syllabus and the exciting schedule for the program,  which is filled with lots of speakers, site visits and discussions.  After the introductory information, we got to work taking notes and discussing our first DC reading assignment, and continued until the end of the day.

When the class was over, I met some friends at the DC staple Sweetgreen for dinner, and then returned to our housing for the night to prepare to start all over again the next day.  This program is shaping up to be intense, fast-paced and extremely rewarding.

-Katie Koontz ’19