19. Inexperienced. Never been outside of Pennsylvania for more than a week. Never been to Washington D.C. for more than a day—and now…I’m calling Washington D.C. my home for eight weeks, surrounded by people I don’t know, as well as being greeted with the Metro as my only form of transportation.

This was the situation I found myself in earlier this year when I set off to Washington D.C. for eight weeks with the Fund for American Studies (TFAS) as a part of the Institute on Political Journalism (IPJ).

I was nervous and excited to be thrown into the craziness that is our nation’s capital alongside 400 other students from across the globe.

Every day I woke up and went to The National Press Club to intern for “The Stream.” I did just about everything when I interned with them.

I prepped Associated Press stories, wrote a few hard news stories every day, pitched my own ideas, conducted interviews, made phone calls, cross-referenced for quotes and did just about any other journalism-related task you can think of.

I attended site briefings at places like the “Washington Post” and sat in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill while hearing from two representatives the morning after the gun-control sit-in.

I interviewed and met with Senators from multiple states—learning about the legislative process as well as what it looks like to be a United States Senator.

In addition, I took two classes at George Mason University in Virginia—truly learning what it felt like to be working full-time and attending school when I sat in my dorm room at 11:00 at night reading my Economics’ textbook while eating whatever I managed to find for dinner that night.

The abovementioned tasks were extremely advantageous to my professional life, but perhaps even more amazing were the friendships I formed while in DC.

TFAS provided me with a core group of friends who I still talk to every day—even though it has been nearly six months since the program concluded.

I still watch my slideshow on my laptop and reminisce about all of the fun adventures I went on with my “family” this past summer.

From our first family outing at the Air and Space Museum to our final “hurrah” at graduation, I truly learned the real meaning of friendship while I was surrounded by these people.

See, it’s great to learn what a Senator does and say, “I want to do that someday.”

But, what’s even better than that is learning what a Senator does, and then having your friends stand behind you and say, “Even though we disagree on everything politically—I’ll still vote for you because I love you.”

Over the summer I had the opportunity to work with and interview Senator Marco Rubio and his legislative staff for a project. As I was standing on the Metro platform freaking out about what was to come—I received a bunch of encouraging texts from my roommate (and fellow lip synching extraordinaire).

Those are the moments I’ll always remember from my summer in Washington D.C.

Sitting in the House Chamber was amazing, but nothing compares to the feeling of turning to your left and to your right while sitting in the House Chamber and being greeted with the friendly faces you have come to know and love in such a short amount of time.

Yeah, I learned a lot in Washington D.C., and those eight weeks really changed the trajectory of my career—allowing me to gain experience and make connections that will help me for years to come.

But, at the end of the day, what was even cooler was watching strangers turn into my family.

My family that had my back through every high and low.

My family who still constantly checks in on me to see how life is going.

I love you guys—thanks for changing my life.