The 2013 Fall Capital Semester program is in full swing. On Aug. 28, students from across the country, the Netherlands and Australia moved into fully furnished Capitol Hill apartments, their new home for the next 15 weeks.
Students spent their first week getting acquainted with the program and their new city. They attended an orientation session where TFAS President Roger Ream (ICPES 79) and Chairman Randal C. Teague welcomed students to the TFAS family. Students also heard from Capital Semester alumnus Scott Eastman (CSF 11) who offered valuable advice about how to take full advantage of the Capital Semester program.
Since then, students have toured the Library of Congress and the Capitol building, visited the D.C. monuments, taken a day trip to Mount Vernon, attended a briefing at the World Bank, participated in an alumni roundtable discussion, met with their mentors and volunteered at the DC Central Kitchen.
This semester’s class of 15 is interning across the city at associations, think tanks, news outlets, nonprofit organizations and law firms. Some of this semester’s internship sites include: Al Arabiya, Heritage Foundation, Satellite Broadcasting Communications Association, Koch Companies and the law firm Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto, LLP. Students intern about 35 hours per week at their respective internship sites.
In addition to attending events and interning, Capital Semester students are participating in upper level economics and government courses accredited by George Mason University. Professor John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute, teaches Constitutional Interpretation while Professor Brian Blase, a staff member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, teaches Economic Problems and Public Policies.
Students are also taking an Internship Seminar course to reflect on internship experiences and earn credit for their work. The seminars are led by TFAS alumna Karen Czarnecki (ICPES 88) and Richard Bennedetto. Professor Czarnecki currently serves as the director of education at the Law and Economics Center at George Mason School of Law. Professor Bennedetto is a retired USA Today White House correspondent and columnist.
The Capital Semester Fall Class of 2013 will continue to live, learn and intern in our nation’s capital through Dec. 14.
TFAS is now accepting applications for Capital Semester Spring 2014: www.DCinternships.org/CS. Please help TFAS bring the best students to Washington by sharing our programs with outstanding students and through social media. TFAS alumni may nominate students by visiting www.DCinternships.org/Nominate. Nominated students will receive priority consideration for admission and scholarship funding, and will be contacted directly with more information and an invitation to apply. The final deadline to apply for Capital Semester Spring 2014 is Nov. 5.
