AARON SCHRANK
Staff Writer
Many students have realized that International Programs are not the only way to experience a change in scenery. Pepperdine’s Washington, D.C. Internship Program boasts its largest enrollment ever for the upcoming summer term.
Enthusiasm for the program has increased, as 46 of 60 applicants have been accepted, compared to last summers’s 15. Not as many applications were received for the summer 2007 semester, either.
The program is adapting to meet this surge of interest by working to purchase a property in the heart of D.C. that would serve as an all-encompassing Pepperdine campus. Students in the program gain experience working full-time for prominent Washington organizations while taking Pepperdine courses.
For years, the program’s directors have been trying to purchase a building that would serve as a Pepperdine campus in Washington, D.C. The program is hosted in Ballston Place, an apartment complex in Arlington, Virg. The purchase of a facility five blocks west of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue is expected to be finalized in about a week.
“We are in the final stages of acquiring a property,” Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the program, said. “We would have our own Pepperdine building, and the whole program would be housed in that building. If all that works out, I think it will be a very ideal setup for the students.”
If the purchase goes as planned, Pepperdine’s D.C. housing will neighbor George Washington University. Jahshan and others have been speaking with George Washington about forming a partnership in which Pepperdine students would have the opportunity to choose from a wider selection of academic courses, including those offered at GWU.
The new building will likely be within walking distance of between one-third and one-half of student internship sites. This will be an improvement from the Metrorail commute from Arlington.
Jahshan was hired in 2004 with the task of expanding the program, and he has undoubtedly succeeded. The program runs three terms throughout the year: fall, spring and summer. While summer is certainly the program’s fastest growing term, enrollment and interest in the program is growing all around.
The process of choosing an actual internship is left up to the students.
“We have them apply to at least eight different choices, so that they can expand their horizons rather than focus on only one kind of internship,” Jahshan said. “We coach the students and work with them, but we leave it up to the students to apply and deal with their specific internship choice.”
In the past, students have interned for the White House, the Department of Justice, Congressmen, embassies, television stations and many other prominent organizations.
Cameron Kirkland, a junior who earned one of the envied spots in the program, said he is excited to live in an area that is the center of attention.
“It sounds like a good way for me to get my foot in the door in terms of where I want to go in life,” Kirkland said. “It gives me a great opportunity to experience how our government works from where everything happens, rather than just hearing about it on the news.”
Kirkland, like other accepted students, is in the process of applying for, and eventually selecting, an internship. He is applying to 14 different organizations, most of them being non-governmental organizations or think tanks.
The internship opportunities have expanded since the program’s conception several years ago, and they will continue to expand.
“We are now assessing the availability of internships to expand the list of choices to the students and we continue on a regular basis to introduce new choices and to develop relationships with places that have become popular with Pepperdine students,” Jahshan said. “We want to give them more diverse and interesting internships that will be useful to them.”
The D.C. program has much to offer Pepperdine students, as quite a few are interested in job opportunities in our nation’s capital city. It is estimated that at least 350 Pepperdine alumni are currently working full-time in the area, according to Jahshan.
The program serves students by enabling them to experience first-hand what it takes to work in an area completely different than Los Angeles. Working in D.C. provides students with a valuable networking opportunity, as well, according to Jahshan.
“The network of people will always make it easier for students to get introduced to people, meet people, and interact with people who they might be working with in the future, or who could guide them and facilitate their applications for a full-time job after graduation,” he said.
The positives of the program are evidently being noticed on campus, and Jahshan credits this to satisfied program participants who have been spreading the word in Malibu.
“The students are very important to us, because they are main messengers from the program to the student body at Pepperdine, and if they are not satisfied with their stay with us here in Washington, then the program will not grow,” Jahshan said. “We are grateful to those who have come to D.C., then gone back to campus to recruit siblings, friends, roommates and other colleagues.”
02-14-2008