Today is a milestone for this geography intern: it marks the end of my National Geographic internship and the beginning of my next chapter.  A day that I have approach with fear and also viewed with pride, has finally arrived and I could not be more pleased to be part of the National Geographic family.  In that regard, I have decided that for my final Five for Friday, I will say farewell with a rewind to some of my favorite moments working inside the yellow rectangle.

1. Meeting some of the explorers, photographers, writers, editors and staff of National Geographic; these people are actually as amazing as they seem.  Surrounding by some of the greatest minds in science and exploration, the environment at National Geographic is one of a kind. Walking down the halls you can see just about anything; whether it be famous ocean water photographer Brian Skerry, Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan, or simply one of the many fabulous researchers or coordinators in the office next door, it is always a good day to meet someone new when you work at National Geographic.

2. Walking to work. Every morning I am blessed with one of the best scenes in the city on my way to work, and I could not be more grateful for the architecture, cleanliness and friendless in Washington D.C. My travel time is somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and in that short span I cross paths with the Capitol building, the Declaration of Independence, countless museums, international embassy’s, The White House, and several monuments! Walking in D.C. will make anyone fall in love with this city’s unique geography, history and political influence; Washington D.C. is home.

3. Geography Awareness Week. It was chaos around here! Celebrating seven days of geography education is no easy feat when you are working behind the scenes.  Looking back, the week is a blur of local events, a blog-a-thon, the finale of the 10,000 letter campaign for Speak Up for Geography, many missions, and more! It was a week where stress and excitement collided to eventually produce a very successful push for geography awareness, and a much appreciated champagne toast to seal a week’s worth of victories!

4. Hanging out in the “intern cave”. Earlier I mentioned the famous names and fantastic minds behind National Geographic, but an equally important network of people in this company are my fellow interns. We reside in the “intern cave” where a running quote board makes a statement the moment you walk into our office and hanging plastic bats and Christmas lights help set the mood! Decorations aside, the best times as an intern were spent establishing life-long relationships with my girls and guys in the cave. I could not conclude this experience without a big thanks to all the people who made the work fun, the time fly and the stories last forever.

5. Connecting with National Geographic fans, followers and friends–like you! It is incredibly inspiring to interact with National Geographic fans because, as an employee ,you are constantly being held to the highest standards of excellency and challenged to do more.  Our fans are some of  the great thinkers in the world; they are people with the endless curiosity in heart, and testers of the unknown. I want to thank you all for being a part of this great organization and I hope that over the past few months I was able to provide you with engaging content that reflected my passion for sharing geography. It has been wonderful, thank you all!

Photo Credits: Vinaykumar Patel (Your Shot), Makayla Trotter (Geography Intern), NGEP Geo-Literacy Photo Shoot

–Julia from My Wonderful World