Making a Dent in the List
Written by Aubrey Neal
This article is part of a semester-long series following Aubrey Neal’s experiences in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program (WHIP). WHIP provides Hillsdale College students the opportunity to participate in semester-long internships in D.C. while taking classes at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center.
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Opening up my work account this morning, I saw that my account has been active for a month and a half. I cannot believe how quickly that time has passed because I feel like my plane landed at Reagan International only a week ago. Yet, at the same time, I feel like I have lived here forever.
DC is so easy to get used to. After my first two times on the metro, I had the system mastered. I learned the route to work, the location of the closest coffee shop, and the best way to effectively communicate with the people around me. I organized my work schedule, class schedule, and social schedule, and I follow them all day after day. These aspects were (and still are) so easy that a week after flying here from rural Idaho, I felt like a DC native. As a result, I feel like I have been here for years.
So where does my feeling come from that I just got here? I think it is the fact that I did just get here. Only six weeks in, I still haven’t seen the grand majority of DC. There just isn’t enough time. In any city, there are so many places to see, activities to do, and people to meet. However, in DC, that is one of the biggest understatements a person can make.
During my first week here, my friend and I toured the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in this part of the country. Our tour group consisted of four people, a middle-aged couple, my friend, and me. The couple engaged us with their tradition of doing something new in the DC area every weekend. This weekend, they decided upon this tour. They continued to go on about how they feel like they have barely made a dent in the list of possible activities, and they started giving us recommendations. Loving the concept of how outgoing this married couple was, I couldn’t help but ask how long they have lived in DC. I actually made them laugh out loud with my look of shock when they responded that they moved here five years ago.
That is why I cringe at the fact that I’ve already been here a month and a half. There are many, many things that I have not had time to do yet. I haven’t visited most of the Smithsonian museums. I haven’t walked through the Sculpture Garden. I haven’t taken advantage of the free shows at the Kennedy Center. I haven’t made my way around to all of the memorials. I haven’t made a dent in my list, and my list is just the normal DC tourist one! It doesn’t even account for all of the attractions that I didn’t know existed before I moved here. Due to this, I feel that I just got here. Yet, here I sit, half way through the semester.
I have fallen in love with this city. I have fallen in love with how much confidence it gave me right out of the gate with its user-friendly character, and I have fallen in love with the endless list of sights to see and events to partake in. It is pointless to look back and regret not taking more advantage of the time I have been here so far because looking back, I have been so busy. There is not one day that I stayed in my room or just wasted time. There has always been work, class, or classwork to be done. Obviously, it is a blessing to be here in this amazing city, but I hope that one day I can come back and really explore more to put a greater dent in my list. I hope that when I have that opportunity, I will look at a calendar, and it will surprise me because time is passing by so slowly rather than as quickly as deadlines on term papers.
Aubrey Neal is a junior at Hillsdale College, majoring in Political Economy. She is currently a participant in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program, interning in the public policy department at FreedomWorks. Originally from the mountains of Northern Idaho, Aubrey is excited to share her numerous new experiences and opportunities from the capitol with Hillsdale and its supporters.