Memory Lane, Living in The Now, & Looking Towards the Future

by Liana Hutton (’23)

In 2017, which was way before I began my Early Decision application to Wake Forest, I knew I wanted to do the Wake Washington Program. I remember always looking at the website, telling my friends and family about how I wanted to do the program, and looking through the pictures of the Wake Washington Center and the student apartments, imagining myself there in just a couple of years. It is still surreal to think that I am doing the program right now.

I would say many people at Wake Forest, myself included, often look towards the future. But, as Rachel Edwards wrote in her blog, we need to “slow down and just be.” Being in Washington DC constantly makes me think about my future. Every new excellent guest speaker we have causes me to ask myself questions such as, “What kind of grad school do I want to go to? Do I want to practice law, or do I want to get a master’s in public policy and administration? Do I want to go straight to grad school, or maybe join the Peace Corps for a few years after graduation?” While I get so excited when thinking about all the different paths I want to take after this experience in DC, I also try to remind myself that I am actually participating in Wake Washington. My seventeen-year-old self would be so amazed by everything I am doing and accomplishing. So I try to take it all in and remind myself that I do not always have to look towards the future, no matter how exciting (and nerve-racking) it can be.

For the first three weeks in Washington, DC, I had wanted to go to the National Museum of the American Indian. Not wanting to put it off anymore, I finally decided to go one Sunday afternoon. I walked about a mile from the apartments, stayed for two hours, and walked a mile back. I loved having this time to read about the marginalization of the Native Americans, their culture, learning about the misconceptions we are often taught, and more. While sometimes I would rather be lazy after a week of work and class, I had time to reflect on my way back from the museum that, as a college student in DC, I wanted to make the most of my experience in this fantastic city, no matter how tired I might be. To make sure I am not just focused on work, school, or planning my future, I decided that I would go to a new museum every Sunday afternoon. Since that Sunday, I have gone to the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In addition, I got time-entry passes for the National Archives Museum for October 17 and one for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for November 14. In the past, I have never been too interested in museums, and when I told my parents about my “weekly museum Sundays,” they joked and said, “Is this really Liana??” I have learned the past few weeks that I love being able to decide which museum I want to go to, walk there, stay a few hours and take in all new information or relearn history I had learned differently, and have this time to slow down, reflect, and be present with myself.

I have also tried to meet new people while being here. While my internship is virtual, I have tried to reach out to various co-workers and ask if they would be willing to get together outside of work. Another intern in a different program at the McCain Institute had requested me on LinkedIn, then we exchanged phone numbers and started texting. One week, I wanted to go to a Walk the Moon concert so I asked her if she wanted to go with me and she said she would love to but already had tickets to a Bleachers concert. However, she had an extra ticket and asked me to go. Of course, I said yes, and on that Friday, we met up at the Wharf for dinner and walked about three hundred feet to the Anthem for an incredible concert. I had never heard of this band before, but I was blown away and now will be a life-long Bleachers fan. She and I clicked right away and have already planned to meet up again– and I have a couple of other concerts planned now!

I am interning for the McCain Institute for International Leadership as a Global Leadership Initiative Intern. I did not know what to expect since I had never done work for a professional organization before, let alone for a leadership program, and because it was a virtual internship. Early this October, a new global leadership program is set to launch, and so far, I have gotten to help with research, writing, creating a form to send to the previous leadership program’s alumni, planning a meeting, and my boss even let me present to the alumni what the new program will consist of! Currently, I am working on a massive spreadsheet to figure out what organizations can help us recruit, the highest distributed news sources in every target country around the world, and created a blog post for the website that they shared on their Twitter page. I love what I am doing and cannot tell my peers and family enough good things about my internship and being in DC in general. Since the new leadership program has not launched yet, the leadership team consists of my boss and myself, so I have not been doing any busy work, I have been doing work that I get to see directly impact the program, which is really amazing. This experience has already made me more confident in my professional abilities, one, because I feel accomplished in what I have been able to do thus far, and because of feedback from my supervisor. This internship also brought to light a passion that I always knew I had, but did not know was an option. I have always known I wanted to change the world for the better, maybe working with human rights or civil rights organizations, social justice organizations, criminal justice organizations, etc. However, I had never thought about working with an organization that promotes character-driven leadership to further others’ human rights, civil rights and help with social justice initiatives globally. I constantly tell my parents I love the work I’m doing, just as an intern, and cannot wait for what my future career may hold!

If you cannot already tell, I love being here. I love the work I am doing, I love the speakers and Friday activities, I love the courses (it helps that the Corrections and White Collar Crime class fits right into my major concentration!). And lastly, I love being a semi-adult in this incredible city. I wish I could tell my seventeen-year-old self that the Wake Washington Program would far exceed her expectations.