I guess my first clue was all the Facebook statuses and tweets about spring break late last week.  Maybe I should have figured it out when I noticed cherry blossoms beginning to bloom during my run on the National Mall last weekend.  Last Friday, my program advisor e-mailed me a midterm assessment form that my internship supervisor has to fill out within the next week.  But I guess it really hit me tonight in class when my professor handed out our take home midterms – we’re officially halfway through the semester.

I’ve been going through a lot of self-assessment lately.  This semester has really helped me to “grow up” for lack of better terminology.  I’ve definitely noticed a big difference in myself.  My homepage on my Internet browser is now BBC instead of Google. I’m generally good at remembering when things are due and when appointments are, but this semester I caved and started to use a planner regularly for the first time in my life that has yet to leave my side since I bought it.  I work on my TWC LCJ assignments and my class papers a little at a time instead of leaving them to the last minute, mostly because I know if I do so I will probably be too tired at that point to write anything decent and will be disappointed when I get a poor grade back.  Instead of checking Perez Hilton’s twitter constantly, I check USTR’s (relevant to work – I swear I’m not that much of a nerd! But still I do find that stuff interesting nonetheless, don’t judge me).  Instead of perpetually checking my Facebook updates, I now split my social networking time between Facebook and LinkedIn; made ever easier by apps I downloaded directly onto my iPod. 

Test-driving a career, as TWC literature would say, or pretending to be a grown-up, as I would put it, has really helped me to establish professional goals for myself.  Washington, DC really is a globalized, polished, “buttoned-up” city.  I’ve traveled around a lot, but I haven’t been anywhere (not even in my beloved New York City) that combines so much power and influence from all corners of the globe and from all areas of professional life.  From government officials and representatives from all over the world, to non-profits to Fortune 500 companies, this place really has it all (which is pretty impressive given its size as compared to other cities).  To be completely honest, before I came to DC I really had no idea what on earth I wanted to do with my degree.  I had decided on a few things that I definitely did not want to pursue, but had absolutely no clue what I could do with my major.  Working in a full-time professional environment, especially the one I’ve been working in, has exposed me to a number of different professions I definitely see myself pursuing in the future – and maybe could find myself enjoying as much as I’ve enjoyed my courses in college so far.