Senior Reflections and the Aitchison Fellowship
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Posted by: Hopkins Insider | 
March 1 2010 | 
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Name: Kristen Gendron
Year: Class of 2010
Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO
Major: International Studies, minor in French Cultural Studies
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There’s nothing like the realization that you only have three months of college left to encourage reflection on the four years of college you’ll soon be leaving behind. Like many of the seniors on campus, I am caught in a middle ground where my Hopkins experience is quickly coming to a close, and little about my future in the real world is concrete. While I find some fear and frustration in the fact that I don’t know what country I will be living in four months from now, I do find comfort, confidence, and assurance in the fact that, by coming to Hopkins, I have more than prepared myself for anything that lies ahead.
So while I perhaps should continue to be proactive about figuring out my future by writing a few more cover letters, I’ll allow my mind to wander a bit over the four years that have undoubtedly shaped who I am and who I will be. That can’t be considered unproductive, can it?
When I came to campus four years ago, I never could have imagined how much I would grow during my time here. I was undecided (and indecisive), 2,000 miles from home, and not entirely sure that I should be here in the first place. I remember wandering campus my first week with little idea of where any of my classes were, and absolutely no idea what they would be like when I found them.
Admittedly, I still had to call a friend this past semester on my first day of class to ask where our seminar was, but 
other than my apparently uncorrectable lack of directional skill, I am very different today than that lost freshman girl. I am an International Studies major, with a concentration in French and a minor in French Cultural Studies. I have played on our five-time Centennial Conference winning varsity soccer team, joined a sorority of the most amazing girls I could possibly imagine, written and edited for our political science newspaper, taught French in a local public school, and tutored a refugee family from the Congo. I have travelled the world, lived abroad twice, had three incredible internships, and grown to love Hopkins and everything that comes with it.
One of my more recent experiences here was living in Washington D.C. last semester through a Hopkins programcalled the Aitchison Fellowship. The program selects about 15 juniors and seniors from all different areas of study and supports them in a combined internship and grad school curriculum for a semester in Washington. Wanting to live in DC is actually how I found Hopkins in the first place, so this fellowship was an incredibly exciting opportunity to do so.
Each student in the program applies independently for an internship in any area imaginable that tailors to their specific interests. With my focus on political science and international relations, it was only natural for me to apply for an internship at the Brookings Institution. I can honestly say that working at Brookings was one of the most fantastic and educational experiences I’ve ever had. I worked with a team of researchers and experts in studying anything from voting patterns in the 111th Congress to the nuances in each version of the health care bills to the debate on redistricting and voter representation. Whew! My favorite part of my internship was working with my boss on researching and editing his twice-a-week op-ed in the Washington Post. So cool!!
After crazy days of work at Brookings, and just when I thought my brain was entirely full, I would run next door to 
take my evening classes through the Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Programs campus. My three main courses were Religion and American Political Culture, American Politics, and Law and Society. These subjects related closely to my research at Brookings, and I can put them towards a masters degree at Hopkins!
Last semester in DC stands out to me as one of my more unique and interesting semesters, but I think it would easy to talk about just as many exciting things that I had going on at every other point in my Hopkins career. And as I take full advantage of my last semester on campus and look forward to my post-grad opportunities, I look back with sincere gratitude to my programs, departments, professors, advisors, and friends at Hopkins who have made my last four years here unforgettable.
