Before interning with Humanity and Inclusion (HI) I didn’t understand the importance of an internship. I thought that my experiences of traveling abroad and attending conferences would be enough preparation for my life after Luther, but I was wrong.

I wasn’t expecting to get much out the Young Professionals Networking event I went to last Thursday, but little to my surprise I won a $25 gift card to a local coffee shop, had tasty food, and met great connections. Never underestimate a networking event!

This is my third full week in DC and the government is still shutdown. My hope for the government to reopen before I leave at the end of the month is slowly dwindling away...so I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of things I have been able to do in DC despite the shutdown.

Saturday, January 19, 2019 was the third Women’s March and I was lucky enough to march in DC with a group of Luther alumni. They proved to me that even years after undergrad, a liberal arts education will stick with you through creativity and a passion for civic duty.

I was looking forward to starting my second week as an intern on Monday, but the weather had other plans in mind. I watched on Sunday, as snow fell, and fell, and continued to fall. Monday was officially called off. At first I was a bit bummed to not go into work, but then I was able to find something just as exciting to do...

Last week when I started my internship, my boss Sara mentioned to me that she wanted me to clean the closet. Then again this week another co-worker reminded me that one of my jobs was to clean the closet. I knew at some point, the day would come for me to open up the door and see how messy the closet really was, and today was the day...

Today I got to table for my organization, Humanity and Inclusion, in the Hubert H. Humphrey building in downtown DC near the capitol! I have attached some photos so you can see what it looked like!

Happy New Year! It was so fun for me to start 2019 by flying into D.C. on January 3, to start my internship. On my first day, I was able to meet the staff members at their office in Silver Spring, MD; learn a lot more about the organization; and think about what tasks I would like to do as an intern. I am looking forward to the month as an intern and what the D.C. area has to offer!

Welcome to my internship blog! My goal for this blog is to share how my job as a Strengths Assistant in the Career Center at Luther will help in my new role as an intern for Humanity and Inclusion (HI) this January in Silver Spring, MD. In this first post, I will introduce myself and why I chose to intern for HI. I hope that Luther community members who read this such as students or even prospective students will learn from the stories I share and gain knowledge on Strengths, finding an internship, and life outside of Luther.