On Friday, August 23, I was introduced to my new internship organization, Street Sense. The new interns were invited to a barbeque in honor of the newspaper’s vendors, and I was lucky to join the party. The barbeque was located outside the beautiful Church of the Epiphany courtyard, only a few minutes walk from the White House.
I met many nice students with name tags; unfortunately, they were not my new colleagues but a group
of volunteers from George Washington University. The chef of the barbeque was Brian – the executive
director. Luckily, he had an umbrella to safeguard the hotdogs and hamburgers.
Suddenly, Eric appeared to offer a tour of the Street Sense offices. I was fascinated by the location and the fact that we are working right next to a church reminds me that this is an important job for society as a whole.
Daniel and David were some of the vendors who sat at my table.They were such cool guys with an eye for life and love.
David read some of his poems out loud and we were all breath-taken by his powerful voice. He really should start reading them publicly; he’s almost as good a rhetorician as our neighbor Barack Obama!
I also got to meet the president [of the board] of Street Sense himself: Brad. I enjoyed talking to him and Rebecca, who I unfortunately won’t get to work with – she is leaving Street Sense to pursue a Masters in Social Work this fall. I’m really glad to have met these caring people, and that many of them are going to be at my office every week this semester.
I left the barbecue feeling welcomed, and excited to begin on Monday. First day or not, I got to write three news briefs and help edit the upcoming newspaper edition. Reading the lovely poetry by the vendors made me realize how important this newspaper’s mission is. I’m glad to be chosen to work here and already looking forward to my next internship day.
