This summer I have had the pleasure of interning on Capitol Hill. I would not trade this experience for anything; however, I do have some major issues with it. One of the largest problems that I have run into while interning up here in Washington, D.C., is the housing. The rent is nothing short of ridiculous. The amount that I have been forced to pay for three months in D.C., is equivalent to almost 11 months of rent in Tuscaloosa for a house I share with my two other roommates.
This problem could be remedied, though, if The University of Alabama would buy property up here for students to live during internships.
I realize how ridiculous this sounds. The first question is: Should the University be investing in outside housing markets?
The answer is yes. Alabama wants to continue to grow its D.C., internship program, and in order to do so, it needs the ability to house more students. This is the only way it will happen.
Other universities, such as Appalachian State, have their own houses. There are many reasons to do this that will be explained in this article. The options in D.C., are also not very good. The place I am living at has mice, the Wi-Fi barely works (it is actually worse than our campus Wi-Fi), the washing machine and dryer don’t work and, finally, it is a dry campus, so even if you are 21, you can’t have any alcohol with you on campus. The whole system is unorganized and needs to be fixed.
The University has a unique opportunity to invest and help students who want to intern in D.C., for the summer. I have heard some good things about other places, but from other friends I have heard that these places are just as bad.
It will give a place for students from the same school to live and socialize. If you get a house big enough to fit seven people, then you assign them each to terms that last as long as the internship, and if they are all one-month internships, then you can have 14 people living in this house over the summer. That’s a little under half of the interns receiving housing.
This housing opportunity would also give the other students a place to visit and hang out where they can see fellow University students and have a chance to network with people they may not have met before. It could also function as a place for alumni of the University to visit and meet students, giving them more networking opportunities.
The final, and obvious, advantage to this housing is the money it could save students. The University has done a good job of showing compassion toward students in need on campus, but we need to take the next step and help these students get ahead. One of the things I have realized is that on Capitol Hill there is a lack of low-income individuals in internship positions. Obviously, they are not less interested. Rather, they do not have the same access to money as others have. That is why I would propose the housing be done on an application processes that takes into account grades and financial needs.
In all, it is time for the University to step into the modern world and help its students get that leg up in a city that holds plenty of internship opportunities.
Regan Williams is a senior majoring in political science and communication studies.
