In what has been one of the most eventful and swiftly moving semesters of my college career, my final day of work for National Geographic has snuck up fast on me as I write this final blog post. My time in D.C. has been marked with periods of awe, confusion, joy, intense learning, and meaningful conversations, all of which I will remember for a lifetime. It’s hard to concisely sum up my experience for the past four months in such a limited space, but I would like to pick out five key things that I took from my time at NGS; things I learned about the Society and about myself in the process.
It was no easy feat trying to work full time while adjusting to moving to a completely different environment form the rural landscape in which I grew up, and the university town where I have spent the last four years. I was uprooted from the secure and homogenous bubble
of undergraduate life and thrust into a world of bustling neighborhoods
and traffic-choked avenues where people from all walks of life converge
on a daily basis. I found the District to be hot and cold, admirable and aggravating, immaculate and unruly, political and anarchical, rude and polite, and friendly and foreign–all at the same time. The dichotomy of lifestyles within such a dense geographic area is astounding to me!
It took me almost as long as the internship lasted to get used to simply living in my new city environment, and, once I thought I had the hang of things, it was time to leave, sadly. Of course, I did mountains upon mountains of learning along the whole process: learning about being punctual, about working 40 hours a week, where to grab a cheap lunch, how to ask for job tasks, how to complete those tasks, where to find the shortest bike commute route–the list goes on and on. The most important things that I learned, I believe, are the aspects of my job that I did and did not like, specifically in terms of my skills and interests. I will keep the more negative thoughts privy only to me, but they play an equally important role in learning what kind of job to seek out in the future.
Here’s the short list of 5 things I enjoyed the most about my tenure as a Nat Geo Geography Intern:
1) Making some extraordinary friends and professional connections!
I went into this internship not knowing how well I would get along with the nine other fresh faces that I had the pleasure of meeting immediately after I arrived in D.C. Over the course of two months we grew very close, both in the work environment and during our ritual happy hours or special events at various venues. I will miss you guys!
I was lucky to be able to work with a very diverse group of bright young minds: my fellow interns (above) and our supportive supervisors.
Continue reading “Time to Pass the Torch…”
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