During my summer in DC and at the World Bank I learned how important it is to take a technical background and expand it to interdisciplinary and non-technical areas. Most people assume that working at the World Bank is only meant for economists, but I was surrounded by policy analysts and engineers in the Urban Anchor. My work revolved around climate change initiatives and solid waste management in the developing world, and it was a great extension of the technical background I've been building in Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. Seeing how these different disciplines interact and blend together has solidified my interest in pursuing development work in the future.

Washington DC is an amazing city, not only for its history or its importance to American politics, but for its ability to attract people from all over the world with different interests and experiences. As much as I learned from my internship at the World Bank, I learned almost as much through conversations and meetings with people I happened to meet. Everyone this summer was extremely willing to sit down with me and talk about my goals and interests, and that type of guidance and advice is invaluable to me now as I enter my final year at MIT.