As a member of the John Glenn Civil Leadership Community, I was lucky enough to travel to Washington D.C. in the spring of my first year at Ohio State. On a Wednesday, we got straight on a bus after classes were over and headed to D.C. Although I had been once before for a couple of nights, I had never had time to truly explore the city, and I was looking forward to seeing it in a new professional light. We had visits scheduled with State Representatives, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and myriad Ohio State alumni.
Although these experiences did leave impressions on me, and helped me better gauge what it is like to live and work in D.C., one of the most memorable times I had on the trip was the first night we arrived. When we got there, it was already late, and we had an early and packed day ahead of us. But a group of Learning Community members who I was with wanted to go out and explore the city. At first I was hesitant, but eventually I gave in and we walked from our hotel in Georgetown to the White House.
We got there right before they turned the lights off for the night, and it was a truly breathtaking experience seeing the White House without all the crowds and noise, and it wound up being one of the highlights of the trip. Above all, it was a good reminder that, more often than not, saying “yes” to more opportunities pays off.