Sunday, July 7, 2024
By:
“You cannot paddle the boat alone. Find someone to share your life with. Make as many friends as possible, and never forget that your success depends on others.” – William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World
Monday was like every other Monday. I spent the day at the ACP building getting work done as usual. That night, we played spike ball down at the mall (a recurring Monday), making it a really relaxing day…minus the stress that was brought upon when I learned my report will be 30 pages. Tuesday was the same type of workday, except for Charlotte, and I traveled to NIST. After an extra-long day, Kaden and I met some of the other interns at Tuesday Trivia. I still think that we should have placed higher, but we’ll try again next week. Also, Sonja left me all alone in our room on Tuesday, and I won’t see her for a WHOLE week. :(
Wednesday, we took the long trip to NIST to begin yet another day. Surprisingly, Charlotte and I could leave two hours early per government rules (thanking someone for that one). The night ended with watching yet another Michael Cera movie, Superbad. Not my favorite, but not the worst either. I’m starting to think I don’t like Mr. Cera… sorry king.
On Thursday, I woke up and immediately listened to “the last great american dynasty” by Taylor Swift. I could feel the patriotism running through my veins from Miss Americana herself. Some of the interns (plus a few guests) went to Jaden’s frat house to grill some hot dogs. No better way to celebrate the birth of America than hot dogs and beer. (I had four hot dogs this day)
Multiple people told us that we had to get to the mall five hours early to get a good spot to see the fireworks. So, there we were, camping out in the rain, heat, and bugs for five hours. Whoever was on aux for the fireworks show deserves the highest pay raise because it went from Bruce Springsteen to Taylor Swift to Toby Keith, and nothing could have been more American than that.
While most people took Friday off, I decided to get some work done. I worked from home, and Charles joined me late in the morning. We took the metro to Rosslyn for lunch and continued working until he left me to go climbing (lame). Jaden then joined me to do some work, and we were both equally productive, which was good! In the evening, Charles, Charlotte, and Charlotte’s boyfriend (Skylar), and I played Catan.
Saturday, I spent the entire day relaxing and catching up on some school-related work that needed to be done. I restarted my favorite show, One Tree Hill, and watched that for most of the day. I then decided I needed some fresh air and took a walk around GW’s campus during the sunset.
Sunday morning, I took an extensive walk to the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and White House with Charles, Charlotte, Skylar, and Collins! In the evening, we had a little pizza party and played Uno to welcome Collins to DC. We decided to watch The Dark Knight late at night, and I’m shocked that I didn’t have a nightmare.
Overall, it was a stressful but fun week. I plan to spend these last few weeks surrounded by friends and make some of the best memories.
Jenna Mastropolo