By Caitlin Marsch in College Days, Editoral/Opinion on February 15, 2024
Staff writer Caitlin Marsch reports back after finishing the Washington Semester Program
Editor’s Note: This is the follow-up article to a column by Caitlin Marsch about what it’s like to study abroad for a semester.
The interior of the Belmont Paul Women’s Equality National Monument. Photo courtesy of Caitlin Marsch.
Hello, I hope everyone had a great winter break and the semester has treated you well so far!
Now that I have returned from a semester in Washington DC, I am following up with my first column in this series with my final reflections.
First of all, after successfully completing the Washington Semester Program, I would still absolutely recommend it to anyone. DC isn’t a cheap city to live in, so you may need to do some budgeting – but foregoing some luxuries so that I could experience the breadth of cultural foods and events was worth it. Most of the museums and monuments are free, however, so you will very rarely be bored, even if you’re broke. I spent almost every weekend visiting monuments, museums, concerts, events, parks, and anything and everything in between. My favorite monument was the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, located near Capitol Hill; it’s a historical house and museum for the women’s suffrage movement.
Caitlin eating ramen at a restaurant in Adams Morgan. Photo courtesy of Genevieve Golangco.
I was also very partial to the neighborhood of Adams Morgan. I spent a lot of time there at cool restaurants, shops, and nightlife. For example, my roommate took this picture of me eating ramen at a restaurant called Sakuramen Ramen Bar. We visited this restaurant after going to the Smithsonian National Zoo, which shares a Metro stop with Adams Morgan on the Red Line. The ramen was a lot spicier than I’m used to, even though I only ordered a spice level 3 out of 10, but it was really good.
Second, as I mentioned previously in the first editorial in the series, I met a lot of really awesome people from all over the globe.
I had many experiences of cultural exchange, whether that was sharing a Friendsgiving meal with international students or learning phrases in German. I realized that I have more in common with students from different countries than I would have previously expected.
The hardest part for me was being far away from home. I only live about an hour away from Ripon and visit home at least once a month, so not being able to see my family and my pets as often was pretty hard. I also didn’t really know what to pack, but luckily, DC weather is consistently warmer than Wisconsin’s, so I didn’t need to pack a bunch of bulky winter clothes.
Caitlin with a Metro sweatshirt. Photo courtesy of Caitlin Marsch.
Finally, I have to give a shout-out to the Metro. I’m a big fan. I even got a sweatshirt with the lines on it. Having unlimited rides on (usually) efficient rail transportation really excited me, and I didn’t have to bring my car with me to DC because of the public transit options.
Overall, I’m so happy that I decided to do this program. Living, studying, and working in Washington DC was an experience that I will never forget. I’m ready to come back to Ripon and finish off my senior year, but hopefully, someday I will return to DC.