Reema Kalidindi is a Political Science & Criminal Justice Double Major. She recently interned with the U.S. Marshals Service in the Chief of Diversity Office through The Washington Center’s D.C. Internship Program.
What was your internship position and what was the office’s role?
In D.C., I worked at the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Chief of Diversity Office. This office basically focused on promoting diversity in the workplace for USMS. The government is usually not as quick with diversity initiatives as the private sector tends to be, so there's still a lot of work to be done to ensure the offices of government administrations reflect the people. So, this office works a lot on initiatives to create more representation and equality. Some of the initiatives we worked on included the 30x30 Initiative which focused on changing certain things about the workplace to recruit and promote more women in leadership roles. Another initiative we worked on was starting policy to better accommodate transgender and genderfluid individuals in the workplace. This is the area I mainly focused on. For these kinds of issues where it was just starting to be acknowledged that this was an area we needed to focus on, it was a lot of policy and legal research. It was really interesting to look at how complex the legal issues could get. It also felt kind of cutting edge in a way, because this was the first of its kind policy in the whole Department of Justice. The only other policy I really had to go off was some older Department of Defense policy which was not as inclusive as it could be, which raised some new questions and issues since there wasn't any policy precedent to go off of. I really got to see how interconnected some issues were and how it affected so many other branches like training division, recruitment, human resources, etc.
What does a day in Washington D.C. look like?
My boss was really understanding with my commitment to studying for the LSAT while I was in DC, so I was pretty lucky. I usually went in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless USMS held a field trip that day. TWC's housing is in the NoMa neighborhood, but my office was in Arlington, VA so to make it to work around 9, I had to leave around 7:45/8 a.m. I'd wake up around 7 a.m., pack some lunch, and get on the Metro. I thought I'd hate the commute, but the view going over the river was actually really nice. I'd get into work, say hi to my boss if he wasn't in the gym yet, and start on my work. Then I'd eat lunch and maybe take a walk around the area of Crystal City. I remember one time my boss took us out for ice cream too. Sometimes, if I had time, I would check out the mall near the Pentagon City stop. Then, I'd come back to work for a bit. Eventually, my boss would tell me I should take it easy and leave a bit early as long as I emailed my work for him to check. After, I usually went to the Commonwealth Joe Cafe down the street because I really like the vibes of the place (plus their cookie butter latte was the best) and studied for a bit there. I'd take the train back and walk into my TWC dorm to find 5 of my friends hanging out on the couch watching Gilmore Girls or a Disney movie, and then I'd make some dinner or something and we'd hang out for a while before going to bed (or before they fell asleep on my couch). Despite the LSATs, I really loved my time in DC.
How do you feel the Washington Internship Program has prepared you for graduation?
I feel like I got a better idea of a what a work environment would feel like, so in that way I really got to understand how policy and legal research actually contributes to real world problem solving. It was also just really rewarding to see how all that case reading in classes really helped me when I was working.
What was your favorite thing about your internship and why?
Honestly, a lot of things, but I have to say, for me personally, the friends I made in TWC were genuinely some of the best people I've met. It's been over a semester since seeing them, and we still text every day. I really hope I get to visit them soon. I honestly thought I would be a bit miserable because I was studying for the LSATs, but I had so much fun when I would just walk into my living room and there were randomly like 7 other people there watching a movie and eating popcorn after a long day at their internships. It was genuinely the best time. We would also do random stuff in the city like checking out flea markets, going to bookstores, attending a lot of salsa nights, trying new places to eat, going ice skating, etc. There was something really nice about being in such a large group of friends. We were pretty inseparable for the entire semester.
What is one thing you think Temple students will be surprised to find out about interning in Washington D.C.?
I think the culture of the city is definitely different than Philly. I really loved the diversity of the food there compared to Philly. I also found that because of how D.C. is, no one is really "from DC". Not in the way people can say they're "from Philly". Everyone there is actually from a neighboring state or maybe another country, but I kind of liked how D.C. really could be a melting pot in that way since it doesn't belong to any state. This shouldn't be surprising, but it feels different when you first start to live there, but D.C. is more than the National Mall. Everyone wants to see the monuments and the Smithsonian (and don't get me wrong those are probably some of the easiest free ways to spend an afternoon), but I spent a lot less time on these than I thought I would. My friends and I ended up doing some things you wouldn't necessarily associate with D.C. at first and ended up having such a fun time. We would make it a point to try to find all the cute cafes and bookstores nearby. It was also always super fun to get Korean tacos at Union Market and dance at salsa night across the street while in my work clothes from the day. If we had a day when we were free, we would head to the Georgetown waterfront and window shop because D.C. was expensive, or we would thrift in Columbia Heights and get Peruvian food. If we were lazy, we would settle for a Trader Joe’s run and a movie. I feel like people think they have to see every Smithsonian to experience DC, but there's genuinely so much more to do, and I would argue you're missing out if you don't try the more unfamiliar activities.