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Jeremy Schaefer
Internship: World Affairs Councils of America (WACA)
May 3, 2023 | Hey y’all! It’s absolutely crazy to believe that finals are essentially already here and that my first year of college is complete! I remember moving in like it was yesterday … also, how was Winter break almost four months ago?? Anyway, as of the time that I’m writing this, my work as a Marketing and Communications Intern with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) has come to an end with the completion of the Academic Worldquest (AWQ) competition. AWQ is a national competition held here in Washington D.C. for high school students who qualified through their local council. Throughout this semester, my work on it was comparatively minimal as it wasn’t my primary focus; but, I was fortunate to be able to attend the reception and competition this past weekend at the Organization of American States and The United States Institute of Peace respectively despite the recent torrential downpours in the city.
There were a total of thirty-nine teams competing in the competition; and, interestingly, the top three finishers all came from Texas. However, competitors came from all over the country: Utah, Florida, California, Minnesota, Kentucky (yay representation of my home state!), both Alaska and Hawaii, and so many other states. It was such an awesome experience for me to have this early on in my college career.
As for the pictures below, the first one with the trees is from the Organization of American States. The venue was absolutely stunning – and WACA was so fortunate to have been able to hold its welcoming reception there! Thankfully they were available semi-last minute because of the weather forecast. The reception was originally supposed to be held outdoors across the street at a separate location but there was no way it would have worked due to the rain. Schaefer 2 Furthermore, the second picture is from the United States Institute of Peace – another stunning venue where incredible work is done each and every day.
As for something fun that I have done since last updating y’all, I attended the formal for the ĢƵ International Relations Society (AMIRS) with my friends a couple weekends back! As the upcoming Chief of Programming for Ask A Diplomat, which is part of AMIRS, I was able to attend the celebration down on The Wharf. Pictured below is the view from just outside the venue where the formal was actually held.
Well everyone … that’s it from me this semester! I hope you enjoyed seeing what we Cornerstone Ambassadors have been up to as second-semester interns in Washington D.C. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with WACA, and I’m glad I got to share some of my experiences here with y’all. Please feel free to reach out should you have any questions, we’d be happy to answer them. Enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you on campus in the Fall!
BLOG SCHEDULE
February 17, 2023
February 17, 2023 | Hey everybody! My name is Jeremy Schaefer, and I’m from Louisville, Kentucky. I’m a freshman here at ĢƵ majoring in International Studies with a double minor in French / European Studies and Economics. I’m really excited to showcase some of my experiences as an intern here in D.C. with you all! Throughout this semester, I’ll be working with the national office of the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) as the Marketing and Communications intern. WACA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has over ninety councils in more than forty states. The national headquarters supports these councils and oversees many operations on the national level. In addition to the many regional councils, WACA has close ties with its various sponsors, government agencies, think tanks, universities, the general public as a whole, and many other groups.
I work in-person three days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After my classes end on Mondays and Fridays, I head straight to the office – and I work all day on Wednesdays. One of the really neat things about my commute to the office is that it’s located only a few blocks away from the White House and the Washington Monument. (This means that I also get to be a part of peak rush hour traffic lol … but so far it hasn't been too bad.) As the weather improves here in D.C. and the days get longer, I’m looking forward to my walks to work by the Cherry Blossoms and other blooms of the season.
Because I spend a lot of my day sitting either in class, in the office, or both, I try to make sure that I devote enough time to get my body moving in some way whenever possible. After my first day at WACA, which was from 9-5, I walked around the track here on campus while I called my mom to fill her in on how my day went. I love being outside to watch the sunsets – and the weather has been surprisingly nice enough to allow for that recently!
Recently, I grabbed dinner at a taco place in Dupont Circle before heading back downtown to walk around and see some of the monuments at night! Visiting the monuments at night is definitely a must-do for college students in DC; not only are they less crowded, but the overall experience is very different from visiting them during the day. Anyway, I’m looking forward to sharing more about my internship, fun activities I do around the city with my friends, and so much more especially as the semester progresses – so definitely stay tuned!
March 10, 2023
March 10, 2023 | Hey everyone! A lot has happened since my last blog was written and posted, including the passing of the semester’s halfway point. I’ve always heard how the Spring semester goes by much quicker than the Fall’s, but I never really believed it … until now. This semester has been much busier for me as I’ve picked up more responsibilities around campus: I’m now the Secretary for the French Club and the Chair of Programming for Ask A Diplomat, a club that brings students and ambassadors together to discuss some of the pressing issues from around the world. (In fact, I moderated the club’s first-ever in-person event last November with the Belgian Ambassador to the United States!)
Anyway, another major responsibility of mine is obviously my internship with the World Affairs Councils of America. Since I’ve officially been working with the rest of the team for just over a month now, I feel like I’m actually grasping and understanding what my role is, what the national office’s role is, and the direction in which the organization plans to head for the foreseeable future. It’s been nice to settle in and actually see the difference I’m making.
As for some fun things that I’ve been up to around DC since I last updated y’all, I visited the House of Sweden, which houses both the Swedish and Icelandic Embassies, with other members of Ask A Diplomat. One interesting thing about the House of Sweden is that it’s almost always accessible to the general public. This was my first time in an Embassy, and I’m looking forward to visiting more throughout the city in the future!
Also on the same day, my friends and I went down to “The Wharf” to watch the fireworks display for DC’s Mardi Gras celebration. It was absolutely packed but there was so much to do (and so much we didn’t get to see)! That day was great; I spent time with my friends, visited new places and had new experiences. (Being outside to enjoy the surprisingly nice February weather was also a positive.)
Speaking of the unusually enjoyable weather for this time of year, one day toward the end of the month was just over 80 degrees, breaking the all-time heat record for the city on that day. That means that essentially everybody was sitting on the quad – like seriously I didn’t know that many people were affiliated with ĢƵ lol.
Well that’s all that I have for this week’s blog; I hope you’re learning a little bit more about some of the routines that we Cornerstone students are up to. (Oh, make sure to check out Denia and Jake’s blogs as well!) Talk to y’all after Spring Break!
April 12, 2023
April 12, 2023 | Hey everyone! Hope y’all have been doing well since our last updates. As for me, this past month has been so incredibly busy; and, in all honesty, it went by so fast that I’ve struggled to even remember what I did. But, as y’all know, I’m an intern with the World Affairs Councils of America … and this past week was super important for my role within the organization. The major project that I’ve been working on all semester – dealing with the contacts and communications means – was due as the organization begins its internal transitions behind the scenes. On top of that, school has been a lot, especially because the end of the semester is quickly approaching; balancing time between all the exams, papers, and projects has required a lot of time management. Anyway, things seem to have slowed down just in time as WACA finalizes plans for the Academic WorldQuest Competition which will be held downtown in a few weeks for hundreds of high school students from around the country.
Anyway, in terms of some more-exciting things, here’s some pictures of campus and greater D.C. in general. The first picture comes from campus just outside the School of International Service during peak-bloom week for the Cherry Blossoms. I’m definitely biased but I think this part of campus is the most picturesque: it has the iconic blossoms while also being outside my favorite building on campus.
Continuing with the theme of Springtime in D.C., which I think is definitely the best time of the year here, I took this next picture walking back to the dorms with my friend Del. Between the redbuds, cherry blossom trees, tulips, and the sunsets, campus has such a great look now.
Apparently the majority of photos that I’ve taken this semester are of the trees blooming. A few weeks ago now was the National Cherry Blossom Festival downtown, so that means that thousands of people flocked to the Tidal Basin and the National Mall to see the blooms. This definitely slowed my commute to my internship – especially on Wednesday morning as so many families were trying to get down early and beat the crowd. (I don’t think it worked lol.) I’ll definitely be interested to see the statistics for how many people used the Metro during that week because I’m sure it was absolutely ridiculous.
Well that’s all I have for this update, I hope y’all enjoyed it! Stay tuned to see what the other ambassadors are up to and definitely check out Cornerstone’s Instagram to see the weekly takeovers by us. Also, congratulations to all of the new Eagles out there!