International Student House Washington DC

Providing an Enriching Experience for Student Residents

“You can do it!” – Career Roundtable at ISH by Adyasha Mohanty

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Dedicating oneself to a strong mentoring relationship can prove to be the most valuable step in the career trajectory of graduate school students and young professionals. Many of the ISH-DC residents, who bring impressive academic or professional backgrounds to the table, are at the crucial juncture of finding the next stepping stone in advancing their careers in DC and beyond.

The Career Roundtable event on the 27th of September, 2018 gave ten of us the opportunity to learn more about what we can be doing now to enhance our job search in DC. We were joined by Cynthia Bunton, President of ISH-DC’s Board of Directors and President of CRBi, LLC, a strategic consulting firm, and Eric Melby, the Second Vice President of ISH-DC’s Board and Founding Principal and Partner of The Scowcroft Group, an international advisory firm in Washington, DC. Amidst a relaxing setting in the study room and treated to delicious cookies and brownies baked by Cynthia herself (Thanks a lot, Cynthia!), each of us put forward the different career-related questions we find ourselves asking at this stage.

I, for one, have recently started a graduate program in international development, and amidst a constellation of academic and community activities I had several questions on my mind – “How diversified or specialized should an internship or entry-level job be? What kind of skills does the job search process require? What are some top tips on networking?” As it turns out, a majority of the residents in attendance also shared similar questions and concerns. Cynthia and Eric enthusiastically provided us insights into the job-seeking scenario, giving us an added perspective drawn from their own experiences as career leaders. Their ideas on approaching and communicating with potential employers, building a professional network, and developing essential soft skills will certainly be helpful to us.

Rose Twagirumukiza, a current ISH-DC resident, moderated the discussion and shared with us her story of finding an effective balance between academics and actively looking for jobs.  My favorite part of the conversation was Cynthia and Eric’s encouraging words on dealing with initial setbacks in the job search process. “Rejection is redirection!” – I remember affirming aloud as this section of the discussion drew to a close.

Sometimes we just need a little push in the right direction, and the rest is history. I am thankful that this Career Roundtable event not only made us feel better-equipped to take on a fruitful job search process, but also gave us that little “push” to continue working hard in pursuit of our dream jobs.

An ISH Food and Culture Affair by Aakriti Thapar

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Dear Residents,
With Food and Love,
From ISH. 

And… within the boundaries of the four walls, there were no treaties, summits, enemies, allies, politics or power dynamics. Nigeria, Italy, USA, Germany, Serbia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Uruguay, all came together to share their culture with residents from different parts of the world – an ideology central to the International Student House’s being, and the edifice on which it is built. The event not only brought together an eclectic mix of cultures, it was an opportunity for residents (old and new) and board members to mingle with one another over a traditional drink from Iran, Californian margarita or Serbian cherry liquor.

 

My favorites from the cultural cookout:

Nan-E-Nokhodchi:  Little Persian cookies shaped like flowers that melt in your mouth. The core ingredients used to make this Iranian delicacy are chickpeas and pistachio.

Pasta:  This simple dish won everyone’s heart (and tummy). What made this a winner for me was that it was homemade, you could taste the love, and *wait for it* the two letter word we all want to hear today – NO ADDITIVES!

 

 

Uštipci: Who doesn’t love a little something fried? These golden-brown donut like fried bread balls will transport you straight to Serbia where this dish a staple. You can eat this with strawberry jam and preserves, or if you’re feeling Serbian, you can dip these in Ajvar, a dip made principally from red peppers and oil.

Sweet Boondi / Bengali Bonde: Being the cookie/sweet-tooth monster that I am, I was naturally drawn to this sweet from Bangladesh. These tiny bead-like balls are made of gram flour, cardamom, saffron and sugar. (Full disclosure: this is a common Indian sweet and it’s eaten during festivals/special occasions).

Perfect weather, perfect company. This fall event was a huge success with residents enjoying the day and learning something new about a culture/country. While the event lasted a couple of hours, the spirit of sharing, learning, and loving is always in the air, and ISH’s love affair with food and culture continues.

Same ISH, New Community

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After a very fast but wonderful summer interning in São Paulo, Brazil I am back in DC for my second year of graduate school at Georgetown. It was nice to return to ISH and campus as familiar places that I already knew I enjoy. It has been fun catching up with ISH friends, even those who now live elsewhere. Soon after getting back in August, I reconnected with a Brazilian friend who used to live at ISH and a resident from the UK who lived at ISH last fall for a short time and recently came back. I was happy to introduce them to Ethiopian food for lunch one day as we caught up about our summers.

The majority of faces at ISH now are new to me. My night class heavy schedule has prevented me from meeting people in the dining hall over meals, but there have been several fun events where I’ve gotten to know the new community. For example, the “9th Nonconsecutive Biannual International Student House Pub Quiz” was a great way to make new friends and brush up on random international trivia knowledge. My team had representatives from Pakistan, the UK, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India, Germany and the US.  A current and former resident created and co-hosted the challenging and at times very random pub quiz. My personal favorite part was a worksheet task where we had to correctly identify and label pictures of current world leaders when they were teenagers.

The next big event where I got to connect with the wider ISH community was the Alumni Hosted Cultural Cookout. It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy great food and good company. Alumni set up tables highlighting their home countries with food, beverages, music and art/cultural displays. I enjoyed tasting French wines while speaking French, watching students put together an African continent map puzzle, tasting some familiar food, and chatting with an alumnus at the Serbia table about my experience visiting Belgrade. Talking with alumni and new residents who are fellow graduate students or young professionals reminded me of how grateful I am to be apart of the ISH network. I am especially excited about the high number of African students at ISH compared to last year, including an Ethiopian student! I look forward to continuing to get to know new and old ISHers in the months ahead and beyond.

Time to say Goodbye!

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This past month of July had many celebrations: our country’s independence on the fourth, Colombia’s independence on the 20th, and Manuela finishing up her internship at World Bank on the 27th. These last few weeks have flown by, and I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I first entered the front lobby at the International House. It has been such an amazing journey: the great people I’ve met, the friendships I’ve kept up with, the events I’ve attended, and even the ones I hosted myself! I hope you remember my last post about the coffee tasting because I have some updates…

The first ever coffee tasting event in the Great Hall was a success. Residents learned about the history of coffee, how the coffee bean transforms into a coffee cup, and the different coffee varieties in the coffee belt region. Afterwards we all woke up by sampling four different types of coffee from: Ethiopia, Hawaii, Jamaica and Colombia. We all enjoyed pairing our coffee with yummy pastries and chocolates provided by the kitchen and we talked about our favorite coffee varieties. I learned so much when preparing for the event, and I’m so happy we had such a great turnout.


ISH residents at the Coffee tasting in the Great Hall

I took a weekend trip to New York City in July to visit an old ISH friend from Paris. She is interning in Manhattan until the end of December, and it was great to meet up after staying in touch for months. We had great weather in Brooklyn, so we decided to check out the open-air market festival called Smorgasburg. We were able to try different types of street food, listen to live music, and get some ice cream—all while enjoying a beautiful view of the city.

ISH resident Sixtine and myself in Brooklyn

The last week of my internship I invited one of the ISH residents to come visit the World Bank and check out our amazing cafeteria for lunch. I gave her a tour of our main building, and she offered to show me around the Organization of American States (OAS) before I left. I took her up on the offer and was pleasantly surprised when I went to visit the historic building.  We walked around the statue hall, the main ballroom, and had lunch in the entrance garden. Thank you, Sofi, for being a great tour guide, I learned a lot about the OAS! The best part about ISH has been the people and the great opportunities that come along with it!

ISH resident Sofia and myself in the OAS
The OAS statue hall
The OAS Ballroom

 

World Cup Fever

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The past month at the House has been full of World Cup mania! Everyone has been watching the games in the main T.V. room, and the rivalries on-screen appear off-screen as well. We have so many nationalities represented at the House, and it’s been super fun to see everyone argue, scream, cry and even jump during the games. And then you have the Italians that are sometimes ignoring the fact that we have a World Cup going on… I’ve been following the Colombia games very closely and the whole World Bank as well. I catch people watching the games on their computers during meetings, at the coffee shops, and in the cafeteria all the time.


My aunt, little cousins, and I watching the Colombia game

This past month we had some really cool events at ISH. I attended the Spanish Embassy Wine Tasting event at the House—and Juan from the Agriculture section at the Embassy led the two-day event. He started out by explaining the different wine regions in Spain, going over the process of making wine, and then teaching us the three key points for wine tasting: color, smell, and taste. We tried six different types of wine, and by the end of the lesson I think we could all pretend to know at least a little bit about wine! ISH residents were also invited to the Liechtenstein Ambassador’s residency. The residency is right by the Georgetown waterfront. It was really cool to meet the team and talk to Ambassador Jaeger about his experience in D.C. and to learn about the history of the country. We got to try some of their specialty wine that they only sell in the country, and I got to brush up on my German.

Wine tasting event at ISH
Ambassador Jaeger’s residency
ISH residents on the rooftop of Liechtenstein Ambassador’s Residency

Speaking of rooftops, I recently discovered that you can eat your lunch in the IMF HQ1 building rooftop anytime as a World Bank employee. A few of my friends from the International Student House and I planned a lunch date last Wednesday. The views were incredible, but it was a bit windy. I look forward to my last month at ISH, and next weekend I am planning to lead a coffee tasting event at the House! Stay tuned…

ISH residents having lunch on IMF Rooftop

 

 

 

 

 

International Student House of Washington, DC | 1825 R Street, NW | Washington, DC 20009

International Student House of Washington, DC (ISH-DC) is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 organization located near Dupont Circle in the heart of Washington, DC. Donations will help support our mission to provide an exceptional residential experience to a highly diverse international community of graduate students, interns and visiting scholars. The House promotes inter-cultural dialogue, encourages life-long connections, and fosters global citizenship.