On weekends, I was free to do whatever I wished, from exploring DC to hanging out with other interns to sleeping in bed all day. When I wasn’t touring the National Mall for the fifth time or walking through Georgetown, I found other things to occupy my time. One intern I worked with at the Embassy of Jordan hosted two pool parties at her apartment, which was really fun. With there being a total of seven interns at the embassy, it made it easier being friends with everyone there as opposed to the sixty interns I worked with at the White House. As my luck would have it though, I was fasting for Ramadan both times, so watching burgers being grilled and snacks being eaten was a major teaser for me. But that didn’t stop me from cooling off in the pool!
Since there were other Claremont students in DC this summer, mostly from CMC and the Democrats Club, I decided to hang out with them every now and then. We frequently had dinners together and my friend from CMC that I took Arabic with fall 2012 semester had house parties almost every weekend. It was great seeing familiar faces in DC and catching up. Dean Feldblum even invited some Pomona students to dinner the one weekend she was in town, which was really nice of her to do. I met a lot of new people, mostly upperclassmen, and enjoyed talking to her and finding out what everyone else was doing for the summer. Another Pomona event I attended was the Networking Reception, which was hosted by various other liberal arts schools. I met more Sagehens there, ate a lot of appetizers and desserts, and learned a thing or two, like how helpful informational interviews at one’s dream company or organization are, which may even lead to a job offer.
One big trip I went on with other interns was to Gettysburg. Although I had been to Gettysburg before as a venture scout, I thought I’d go again with different people. I was never a history buff nor a fan of nature, so I had my hesitations about going. One thing that I do love, though, is being able to explore new places. In three cars, the group of 14 interns headed to Gettysburg one Sunday, which was 1.5 hours away. We started out by watching a documentary of the Civil War and the importance of Gettysburg, then moved on to the museum to explore the details of the three-day battle. After the museum, we went on a car tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield just because it was too far to walk. We stopped by the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the North Carolina Memorial, the 44th New York Infantry, which is a castle on top of Little Roundtop, and the Pennsylvania Memorial, my favorite memorial since you can go on top of the roof and envision all the fields around you being filled with soldiers. It was a good day outside of the DC bubble (and humidity).