A Day in the Life of a DC Intern

My alarm goes off at 6:15, like always, but somehow (like always) I don’t manage to drag myself out of bed until 6:45. Needless to say, I am not a morning person in any way, shape, or form. I still haven’t figured out how I ended up with the job that makes me the first to wake up and the first to leave out of all the girls in my apartment. Anyway, I stand in front of my closet to choose which of the professional outfits to wear to work. Forty-five minutes later, I am sitting down to my usual delicious bowl of cinnamon oatmeal. I fix my lunch and walk out the door at exactly 8:00. I ride the elevator to the first floor, greet the woman at the front desk, and I’m out the door.
I pass a group of high school kids on their way to the school behind my apartment building. Walking to music gets me charged up for the day, so I put my headphones in and listen to something peppy. At the metro stop, I pass the friendly man who hands out the free Express newspapers, which I never take because I’m only on the metro for ten minutes – not enough time to read the paper. I am proud to say that I have overcome my fear of escalators, so I step on the “Stairway to Heaven” with confidence. I slide my weekly pass through the scanner, and walk to my train. I don’t usually get a seat in the morning rush, but at least I can claim a spot near a bar. No subway surfing for me.
At Farragut North, I leave the train and get on yet another escalator. There is always a musician at the top of the escalator, and I enjoy their music as I ride up. Today it’s a man with an electric guitar. Three blocks later, I reach my office building. I walk inside and opt for the stairs, because I feel guilty taking the elevator to just the second floor. Once I reach the office, I go through the morning routine: Flip the light switch, turn the lights on, take the phone off night setting, pull out yellow pad to write down who calls, log on to computer. I try not to turn on the t.v. until 9:00 because I can’t stand the people on Fox News before then. At 9:00, America’s News Room comes on, which is my favorite news show of the day. Megyn Kelly and Bill Hemmer get me caught up with the world’s goings on. At 11:00, I turn on Pandora, my new favorite website. I work to the sounds of Colbie Caillait, Jewel, Norah Jones, and Ingrid Michaelson. My work for the morning consists of answering phones and forwarding the callers to the right person, doing research on the gubernatorial campaigns across the country, and doing any other little jobs that present themselves. Around 1:00, it’s lunch time. I ask one of the other interns to watch the desk for me, and I head outside to enjoy the DC humidity. Once a week, I splurge and get lunch at Potbelly’s, Breadline, or Au Bon Pain, but today I’m brown bagging it. I walk down to Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House. I find a bench and enjoy my quiet lunch and the great surroundings. Sometimes I run into Becca, one of my roommates, on her lunch break.
After lunch, it’s back to research and delivering mail. I only have three and a half hours left before I can leave and get to the rest of the night’s activities. One of the guys in the office stops by my desk and offers me free stuff from the supply closet. Today it’s four glasses with the company logo on it and two baseball caps. Fabulous! I’ll never turn down free stuff. Since it’s a really laid back afternoon, one of my supervisors stops by to “get me out of the office.” We make a smoothie run down to the nearest juice bar. Sometimes we go around the corner and get ice cream. Afternoon snacks are definitely something to look forward to. At 4:30, I start to count down the last hour. When the big hand gets back around to the six, I turn off the lights, switch the tv off, put the phone on night, say goodbye to everyone in the office, and walk out the door.
I walk back to the metro, past the guy at the newsstand who thinks that he can get me to buy a bag of chips by flattering me (he’s wrong), past the flower stand that always smells like roses, past Farragut Square Park (which hosts free concerts every Thursday!), and down to the metro. I put my headphones back in, and celebrate the end of another workday.
At 6:00, I walk in the door of my apartment. All of my other roommates are already home. (Yep, I’m usually the first one to leave and the last to get home). I grab a drink of water and sit on the couch to unwind. I’m pretty worn out after a nine hour day at work. At about 7:00, I ask around to see if anyone has plans for the evening. Dinner to celebrate an intern’s birthday? I’m in! We ride the metro and all meet up at the restaurant, where we talk about our days and enjoy delicious food. I’m home again at about 10:00. Just enough time to return a few emails, eat some double churned vanilla ice cream out of the tub with my roommates, and head to bed. I can’t wait for the weekend when I can really get out and play tourist!