Staying behind to intern? Starting your lease early? The transition from school year D.C. to summer D.C. can be tough, so Her Campus AU wants to make sure you do it right.
The worst parts of spending the summer in D.C. are college friends returning home and the all-encompassing heat, so prepare yourself. Other than that, D.C. is quieter, bigger, and ready for you to explore.
If you’re staying in Tenleytown, be sure to grab a friend and go to the Avalon pool; lots of AU kids hang out there in the summer and you can cool off in the rooftop pool. If you know someone who lives in Embassy Park, their pool is even bigger, but the neighbors get a little grumpy if you’re splashing too loudly.
For those of you moving out of the AU neighborhood, aim to stay somewhere young and yo-pro: AdMo, H Street, Dupont, Columbia Heights, etc. Living in these ‘hoods will introduce you to other people your age and put you in close proximity to great nightlife.
During the day, work hard at your job or internship, but make sure to take occasional days off during the week to check out cool D.C. events. In the summer, there are tons of free things to do, such as the “Screen on the Green” outdoor movie series on the National Mall coming up in June.
At night, try out new clubs and bars. “Shaderday” is not popping in the summer anyway, so go out to different places every weekend. By the time school starts again, you can introduce your friends to hotspots they’ve never heard of before.
If you start missing your AU friends that left you for the summer, tap into the summer intern social scene. Thousands of college students flock to the internship utopia that is D.C. during May-August, and most them don’t know anyone. Hanging out with the summer interns is a great way to make connections all over the US.
Living in D.C. is a whole new experience; you just need to approach it with an open mind. Your summer in D.C. will be a whole lot different than the past two semesters, but that’s totally okay.
Photo Credit: