Taylor Turner, a third-year Gateway scholar and mentor, was selected for the prestigious Archer fellowship where she is spending the semester learning and interning in Washington D.C. As she experiences life in our snowy capitol, she reflects upon her journey thus far.
“What starts here…”
Gateway helped smooth my transition onto the 40 acres, built some of my most cherished friendships and helped me further develop my leadership skills. I have taken what I have learned from Gateway and brought it to our nation’s capital as an Archer Fellow.
D.C. has been taken over by Texans! With our southern accents, loud voices, unique style and larger than life personalities we are taking the district by storm. The city has been our classroom and playground. From The MLK Memorial to the Holocaust Museum I have been to countless breathtaking monuments, met distinguished individuals like Congressmen Bill Archer and worked hard day in and day out at C-SPAN. My internship has been amazing. My network is a learning environment where they entrust me with so many tasks. I work in the International Programming Department where I process and assist with production for C-SPAN’s three networks.
I live a couple of blocks away from the Capitol and the Supreme Court. I go to class literally a couple of buildings down from The White House. I never get tired of walking past these beautiful buildings. I was not prepared for the cold weather when I first arrived and had to get warmer clothing. I also had to order snowshoes because I was walking around with plastic bags around my feet for a day when it snowed a lot. It took me some time getting used to the cold weather and snow, but I often catch myself saying it is warm when it is 28-30 degrees outside. When we have snow days we build massive snowmen and have block wide snowball fights. I cannot wait for it to warm up to see the Cherry Blossoms bloom; I heard it is a beautiful sight. I look forward to the rest of the semester, learning and living in such a great city! 
