Three Bluffton University students traveled to Washington, D.C., for their cross-cultural experience last fall. Seniors Chanhee Hwang and Destiny Grant and junior Kirk Kauder lived in a house with 12 students from Eastern Mennonite University, worked an internship and took classes, immersing themselves in the life of a major metropolitan city and gaining valuable experiences for personal and professional development.
The students’ days were structured the same. They began each day by using public transportation to get to their internship and ended each day by having dinner with their housemates and playing games or doing homework.
Each student held an internship related to their majors. Grant, a psychology major, worked at the American Psychological Association. Most of her time was spent doing data analysis, looking at different places who want to offer continuing education in psychology around the United States and ensuring they meet the requirements set by the APA.
Kauder and Hwang are both double majors in accounting and business administration. Kauder worked at the Latin American Youth Center where he reconciled bank statements with expense reports.
Hwang was a system migration intern at the Washington Area Community Investment Fund. She worked on making sure loan information from an old program they used transferred correctly to the new program.
Hwang, an international student from South Korea, noticed differences between her work experience in D.C. and her work experiences in South Korea. She said the South Korean work environment is more intense and included fewer breaks, but she believes her experiences will be valuable for her career path in the future.
“It showed me that I need a balance between super intense and very laid back, instead of one extreme or the other,” said Hwang. “It also helped figure out that I like that kind of work and that I’m interested in learning more about that job for the future.”
The students took two classes while in D.C. One was a seminar that focused on the history of D.C. It was a hands-on learning experience with walking tours of the city to supplement the reading. The second class, called Student Leadership in the Urban Setting, taught students skills such as proper business etiquette and writing a cover letter and resume.
The community aspect of the group house was a highlight for all three Bluffton students.
“Group life was my favorite part, as much as I thought I was going to hate it when I got there,” said Grant. “I really made good connections with the people I was there with, and they really helped me through a lot, just exploring the city and getting to know my place in my internship and getting to know who I was as a person, knowing what I want to do after school.”
While living in a big city was intimidating at first, the students shared of how they grew to love living in D.C. Hwang said she enjoyed the freedom that came with living in the city and public transportation.
“On our own time, we would go to museums or just walk around the city to get to know the area and go to different restaurants,” said Kauder. “Traveling around the city, I was terrified to go and roam around, but after a month I started roaming myself and realized it’s not that bad.”
The students agreed that experiencing a semester in D.C. will have a positive impact on their future.
“It definitely made me think a lot about what I want out of my career and what I want moving forward, not only in my career but in my education,” said Grant. “It opened my eyes and let me think more abstractly about what I want.”
