I went to an information session this week for the Washington D.C. Academic Internship Program through the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. This is something I have been considering for a long time, and when I met with an advisor this summer about the graduate school program, he recommended this to me. You can get an internship essentially anywhere in D.C., where you work full time four days a week in the quarter you are there. You also write a 25-page policy paper and take a seminar class. Apparently the work load is unimaginably hard, but it is incredibly worthwhile. One of my residents went last year and raves about the experience.
I started looking up internships online last night. There are a lot with the media I could get, like at CNN or the Center for Media and Public Affairs, but I also am really getting interested in international relations and policy. I plan on going Autumn quarter of next year, but I would jump at the chance to go sooner if it weren’t for the RA job. I will just have to be patient and develop the skill set and knowledge I hope to bring to the table to make the most of the experience.