ADVICE FROM PREVIOUS WASHINGTON D.C. INTERNS

"Make the most of everything. Go and see as many things as possible."

SUMMER HOURS

"Don't start the internship before June."

"Nothing goes on in Congress on Mondays or Fridays."

"If you're only working part time, you can either do what I did and travel every weekend to other cities, or get a second job or internship."

"I should have started later; I started mid-may."

AROUND THE OFFICE

"Know how to use Excel, a scanner, and how to .pdf documents."

"It is difficult to sit through each day at your desk. It helps to pace yourself and create to-do-lists so you can organize yourself and not have a bunch of tasks overwhelm you."

INTERNSHIP REFLECTIONS

"Be patient -- the first week they test you, if you do well, you get good assignments."

"Ask specifically what the internship entails. I was told I would get "an overview of the securities arbitration process." But they intended it to mean I can look at how they file all the papers - not actually learn about the process or be involved with it."

"(at U.S. Attorney's Office) There are about 20 attorneys in the Misdemeanor Section and they are in court everyday. It is a very fast paced office. For the majority of the day, from 9AM-4:30PM, the attorneys are not present and only the paralegals are. So, it is the paralegals who gave us work and not the attorneys."

"I definitely should've asked more questions of my supervisor before I arrived. I was concerned about making a good impression; so I didn't necessarily want to prod. But most of the people here were (and are) happy to help or clarify anything. For instance, I had very little idea what my responsibilities would be before arriving or what hours I would work. Asking about these things in general terms would have been very helpful in the first day or two when my responsibilities were unclear."

LIFE IN WASHINGTON D.C.

"Don't live at Georgetown, it's beautiful but inconvenient."

"DC has a very young, active social scene-especially for young interns and residents. For students who like to go out to clubs, bars and restaurants I would recommend they live in the District; Metro stops operation at 3 a.m. (the same hour bars close), and commuting late at night can be dangerous. Of my friends who lived outside city limits, all wished they hadn't. Living in Georgetown also presents problems for transportation, as there is no Metro stop there."

"Zipcar.com is a cool service that lets students/people rent cars by the hour in D.C. and they have cars parked all over the city. This comes in handy for going to Costco or to the market, as well as weekend day trips. Only 7.99 per hour."