This summer so far has truly involved taking advantage of everything around me, especially the sights, the food, and the opportunities. Coming from a very rural/suburban area, I’m not familiar with living in a big city, but currently living blocks away from the National Mall has quickly adjusted me to the benefits.
This has ranged from evening runs around the National Mall or choosing to walk back from Georgetown just because… why not? I love the busy, young, and classic feel that this city provides with the hustle of everyone going to and from work each day or the beautiful old architecture in the buildings and homes found in Georgetown, Dupont, and Adams Morgan. As I have explored these different parts of D.C., the food has been amazing. After stalking the D.C. food instragrams for weeks, we ensured that the famous Sushi-Burritos were one of our first meals, luckily only two and a half blocks from us. Also, exploring brunch spots on the weekends became a must. My roommates and I soon found blueberry buckwheat pancakes, found at the Dupont Circle farmer’s market on Sunday mornings, that are by far the best pancakes we have ever had in our lives. Aside from trying all of the amazing food places in D.C., I decided that this summer I was going to “try” to cook. This plan has actually turned out better than I had expected. My roommates and I pick out meals we would want to have, get all of the groceries (delivered to our door- thanks to Peapod), and after work I get to cooking. Despite the difficulty of cooking in a kitchen without an oven and only two stovetops for four people, we have had quite the array of meals-lasagna rolls, bbq chicken, spaghetti, pork chops, tacos, etc . Our favorite involves spiralizing zucchini and cooking with various spices, sauces, avocado, meats, or shrimp like a pasta dish. Yet, before any of this cooking begins each evening, my day is spent interning at Genetic Alliance. Unsure of what to expect for my first 9-5 internship, I was so pleasantly surprised. My supervisors are the most encouraging and driven people, who want the absolute best for every intern. They truly want us to learn and explore any area that we are interested in throughout the summer. I would have never imagined the opportunities that they have made available for us. We were immediately pushed to find our own personal or group project to work on about anything we could come up with surrounding the topics that Genetic Alliance works with every day, many of which involve literature reviews, perspective pieces, toolkits, or data analysis. Even beyond this we were informed that these papers could be published in one of the many journals they have access to. I personally have begun research and will be writing a perspectives piece about the next step for people after the EEOC’s recent ruling on employer wellness plans. Additionally, I have loved their emphasis on attending events in D.C. or using their connections to simply get coffee with someone we would be interested in meeting and talking to. Overall, living in such an active city with constant places to go, events to attend, food to try, goals and tasks to work on has made just the first three weeks of the summer fill with so many memories.