WAIP cohort students meet with Congresswoman Joyce Beatty Credit: Courtesy of Katy Hogan
Frances Breidenstein expected to spend fall semester working in Washington, D.C., taking in the views of the nation’s capital; but instead, her cat, Zuko, greets her each morning when she logs into another day of remote work for Catalyst Global Strategies, LLC due to COVID-19, she said.
Breidenstein, a fourth-year in international studies, French and world politics, is in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs’ Washington Academic Internship Program, a semester-long program in which students typically live, work and take classes just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. However, the 11 members of the program’s autumn 2020 cohort are working remotely for companies, political organizations, and federal agencies and offices while networking via Zoom.
“My fear of moving online was that I wouldn’t have the same opportunities to connect with professionals or the rest of my cohort,” Breidenstein said. “Those fears went away when I quickly started making personal relationships and sharpening my skills in the world that I want to work in.”
Breidenstein said the program has been successful because of opportunities set up by the program’s staff, whether it be weekly professional development workshops and study tours or virtual cooking classes and movie nights to connect members of the cohort.
Katy Hogan, program coordinator for WAIP, said the success of transitioning all the program’s aspects online was thanks to the cohort members’ engagement and flexibility through the changes.
“WAIP focuses on three main parts: giving students opportunities to network with others in the D.C. area, experiencing a fulfilling internship in the work that they love to do and providing professional development tools that they can use in their future,” Hogan said. “In the online format, they get all of those things and more.”
Hogan said this semester’s program has included a diplomacy simulation with a State Department diplomat, an extensive conversation and Q&A with U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, and her personal favorite, a discussion with NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith.
When COVID-19 struck in March, the program’s spring cohort was sent home.
Jimmy Gao, a fourth-year in public policy analysis and economics, said that despite the chaos and confusion of moving home last minute, he was glad for the time he got to spend in the program and interning in the office of U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan.
“It was such a great few months where we were able to try on the city for size and get to know about the career I’m interested in doing for the rest of my life,” Gao said. “But one day you think you’re going to be working until April, and the next, you’re told to go home. We were really blindsided, and a lot of us didn’t have the time to process the change.”
Gao said the program leaders did the best they could to give the end of the program the same fulfilling sentiment of the program’s start and gave them resources to prepare for future opportunities.
“I met my girlfriend Emma, had a great internship experience and was excited to celebrate my 21st in D.C. until we got sent home,” Gao said. “And even though that didn’t happen, it was still a fulfilling experience.”
