People's District

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

“To be honest, I don’t really have a good reason for why I am in D.C. other than the fact that I got into George Washington University. I grew up in Winchester, Massachusetts, and thought that the school was a good fit for me. I came to D.C. on a class trip and my sister goes to American University, so I knew a little bit about the city and I like having family here. I’m only 18 and a freshman, so I don’t know that much about the city, but hope to learn more during my time here.

“One of the funny stories about being here is that I moved into my dorm on the day of the Tea Party. People always think that D.C. is all about rallies and politics, so it was a pretty Washington introduction to this town. As I was moving in, there were thousands of Tea Partiers down by the Mall. I had never seen so many people in one place. It was insane.

“My roommates and I decided to go check out the Mall and walk around and there were people as far as the eye could see. It was incredible because I met people who drove from who knows how far to be here for the rally. I may not fit in with the Tea Party people, but it is awesome that people can rally in this city for whatever they want. I know that sometime, I will go to a rally for something that I believe in. I think that is one of the reasons that this city is so cool.

“I am learning to like the political side, even though I am not a political person. I don’t really like admitting that here because people always tell me, ‘Well, if you are not a political person, why did you move to D.C.?’ I am into music and back in the day, D.C. had a pretty lively music scene here with bands like Fugazi and Minor Threat. That is pretty sweet and another great reason to be here that many people may not know about. My roommate is one of those political junkies who always keeps the news on. He has to explain a lot of that stuff to me, so in exchange, I tell him about the music stuff from D.C. So far, it is working out pretty well and we’re learning a lot from each other and the city.”