From June 22nd to June 27th the newest cohort of Fellows, the ’18s, took the now-traditional first-summer tour of the Washington foreign policy establishment.  The trip was chaperoned by IR Fellows Director David Rezelman and his wife, NA Middle School Latin teacher Lisa Marie Priddy.

In her capacity as one of the “External Relations Officers,” Alix Galumbeck (’17) compiled a tremendous amount of information about our visit to Washington.  Unless otherwise noted, the text below was written by Alix or one of the ’18s themselves.

“The ’18s descended on DC this summer for the traditional introduction to International Relations.”

“Sunday: During our four-hour drive to DC, we played an exciting game of ‘contact.’  After settling in to our nice hotel, we met with a Foreign Service Officer, Dr. Judith Baroody, and her husband, a former member of the Air Force, Dr. Richard Krueger.  Dr. Baroody talked to us about the Foreign Service and provided a great introduction for our trip.  We grabbed some American food and bonded before going to bed.”

“Monday: We visited Common Cause, an NGO that fights for less governmental secrecy.  We met with Mr. Dale Eisman, Mr. Aaron Scherb, and Mr. Steve Spaulding.”  This visit was followed by some general tourist exploration of the District.

“Tuesday: We spent the majority of the day touring the Pentagon and talking with [a senior U.S. Navy officer who had done some pretty neat stuff].  Before the tour, we had an extremely delicious yet different meal of Ethiopian food to fill our stomachs.  After the tour, we met with Greg Priddy, Ms. Priddy’s brother, who works as an oil analyst for the private risk consulting firm Eurasia Group.  Only days earlier he had appeared on PBS NewsHour!  We ended the day with a dinner of Middle Eastern food.”

“Wednesday: We devoted the day to the Capitol Building.  We met with two staffers who work with the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ms. Karen Courington and Mr. Basant Sanghera.  Then two college interns, Isaac and Connor, were nice enough to take us on a detailed tour of the entire Capitol Building.”

We then made several brief visits to various Smithsonian museums on the Mall.  Among other things, the ’18s were “treated” to impromptu lectures from Dr. Rezelman on the space program and modern “drone” warfare while standing in front of appropriate props in the National Air and Space Museum.  Our final museum visit was to the National Museum of African Art.

“Thursday: This was our busiest day. We walked by the White House on our way to a meeting with Dr. Christopher Preble of the Cato Institute, a medium-sized think tank.”

“After a very interesting discussion with Dr. Preble, we visited Mr. McMahon’s father’s house for lunch and had a very informative and interesting conversation about the U.S. Intelligence Community and how it is organized and operates.  After that, we went to the headquarters of the Peace Corps to learn more about soft power and their experiences and opportunities abroad.  Ms. Jocelyn Sarmiento, Mr. Ryan Fouss, Mr. Kelvin Grant, and Mr. Scott Kumis gave us a very thoughtful presentation about their jobs.”  Lastly, we met with several current and former Georgetown University students (and Norfolk Academy alumni) at “The Tombs,” a local campus hangout.  One, Iris Kim (’12), was in the midst of an internship at the State Department.  Iris, Irene Cavros (’10), and Denise Mousouris (’10) were all veterans of Dr. Rezelman’s International Relations course.  “They talked about their internship experiences and gave us advice about college.”

“Friday: We met with Ms. Sammia Hodgson, Ms. Maria Margarita, and Mr. Arturo McFields at the Nicaraguan Embassy.  They described their work at the embassy and informed us about their country.”

Alix asked each of the ’18s to share what their favorite part of the trip had been:

Mila Colizza (’18): “My favorite part of our DC trip was visiting the Peace Corps.  We walked in and I immediately felt welcomed in a very young, energetic environment.  It was as though I could see myself there in the future.  We were given several presentations form people who had traveled to Jamaica and Africa.  It excited me to know that people actually did something so far-reaching.  It also sparked a passion in me about languages and the ability to communicate across all other boundaries.  Part of my personal mission as an IR Fellow is to learn about the world around me.  And what better way to learn about the world around me than to be fully immersed in it?”

Chase Yager (’18): “My favorite part of the trip was the tour of the Pentagon and talking with” the senior U.S. Navy officer.

Adavya Dhawan (’18): “My favorite part of DC trip was our tour of the Pentagon.  I have visited many of the monuments in my millions of trips to DC in my lifetime, but to have the opportunity to visit the Pentagon was definitely a new experience for me.  I had heard stories about the vast size of its interior, but being inside truly opened my eyes to the magnitude of the building.  There were so many hallways and staircases that all lead to a different place; it was overwhelming.  The highlight of the tour was the search for the ‘rare purple water fountain.’  Rumor has it that in the entire Pentagon, there was this one purple water fountain with truly no significance at all but the rarity of its color.  Our group was on a true scavenger hunt for this fountain but we only found it with the help of a janitor.  It was a fascinating journey and completely worth the time and effort.  Another highlight of the tour was the ‘Hall of Honor’ which by the way I am pretty sure we were not supposed to be there, but we were told to act as if we belonged there.  I am still contemplating why a group of fourteen-year-old boys and girls would belong there.  Yet, it was totally worth it to catch a glimpse of some pretty famous people.”

Tai Jeffers (’18): “My favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Peace Corps.  They had a laid back attitude.  Even though the people there were young, you could tell that they got work done.  Their presentation was fun and thought provoking.  I might actually apply after college!”

Sophia Burke (’18): “My favorite parts of the trip (besides getting to know each other better) were the food, touring the Pentagon, visiting the Peace Corps, and talking with Mr. McMahon’s dad.  We went to really good restaurants and had a lot of fun just taking a break and relaxing after a long day.  We also played some really fun games after dinner while eating frozen yogurt or Starbucks in a nearby park.  The Pentagon was fun because our tour guide gave us an extremely detailed tour and explained everything thoroughly.  He told us a lot about his personal life and career as well as some interesting stories about his work with the Pentagon.  The Peace Corps was great because the people were super friendly and found a fun way to teach us about their trips (one guy spoke/sang in a Jamaican accent and another showed us a music video he shot for a boy).  And lastly, Mr. McMahon’s dad taught us SO much about his career and gave us a problem to solve using the knowledge of what he talked to us about.”

Jimmy Peccie (’18): “My favorite part of the DC trip was definitely walking through the section of the Pentagon where the top-ranking officials’ offices were and glancing in each one of them to see if they were working (the Secretary of Defense, for example, unfortunately was not there).  It was very kind of our contact to lead us through there and it was overall a really cool experience.  I also enjoyed the late night bonding sessions that we would do as a group after a long, tiring day of walking around DC.  It was nice to have time to relax and really get to know one another better.”

Once again, we return to the theme: in the process of getting to know more about the world during these trips, we get to know more about each other as well!