FEDERAL DEVELOPMENT
Dong-Hee Lee

Another intern from Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea, Dong-Hee Lee also studied in Vancouver, Canada and was majoring in economics and accounting. He traveled to Hiroshima in Japan and worked in the past at a private trading company, a computer store, a restaurant; and in the Korean Army with the military police. Dong-Hee won a New Regional Initiative Scholarship (NURI) from the Korean government, and he applied to the Washington Internship Program in late December 2005. WIP placed him at Federal Development, a private company in downtown Washington, D.C., where Dong-Hee worked for six months starting in the spring (after going to England in January). Below is Dong-Hee’s translated paper.

Dong-Hee Lee at office in Federal Development

“I really wanted to do an internship before graduating from college, so I applied but was rejected due to my poor English. In response, I decided to improve my language skills by studying in Canada for seven months. After doing so, I applied to the Washington Internship Program and was accepted. I wanted a position at a financial agency or institution, which is difficult to obtain, and I felt impatient because my departure date was delayed, and most other interns flew to the U.S. before me. However, WIP finally placed me at Federal Development, and I flew to Washington on April 23, 2006.”

“First, I faced hardships trying to find accommodations, which were hard to acquire for just six months. I would advise future interns that living with other students at WIP housing is most important in the beginning. After a week, I started working at Federal Development – a company that handles development, real-estate, and pensions for old people, among other economic projects. Both co-workers and supervisors were kind to me, and my confidence grew. I reviewed the company introduction book, which was very thick, and I felt swamped because it contained lots of technical terms used in professional fields, so I read it repeatedly after work. I attended a meeting on my first day where coworkers discussed a new project, and I was impressed by their attitudes because they expressed opinions freely – even in front of the boss.”

“During that meeting, my supervisor gave me an assignment. We were working on Governors Island in New York City, and he asked if I could come up with a good idea for remodeling it. I worked on this project after work for several days and then proposed designing the island as a small version of the whole United States, which could serve as a tourist attraction as well as a symbol of America. My boss asked about the most efficient forms of transportation given economic and environmental considerations. I did research on ten of the biggest projects similar to ours elsewhere in the U.S. I devoted much time to such tasks, and colleagues started to recognize me as a good intern, and we became close friends.”

“Nevertheless, I was somewhat depressed due to my poor English, which remained an obstacle and limited the tasks I was given. I promised myself to keep asking questions whenever I didn’t understand what was said. However, sometimes I couldn’t grasp the meaning even after asking two or three times, so I pretended to work. This approach was never helpful.”

“I was soon assigned to handle inventory for Senior Housing in Baltimore’s Fort Howard, which was the biggest job I had during the internship, and I corresponded directly with the applicant for this project. Moreover, my boss assigned me a translation to be used for business with Korean investors. I was enthusiastic about this challenging work and did my best. When the task was completed, I felt wonderful.”

“I worked part-time to earn living expenses at a mini-market that was open twenty-three hours a week in Dupont Circle. On one hand, I don’t think that such employment is good because it can distract students from concentrating on internships. On the other hand, a part-time job is okay as long as time allows. I was able to make friends with Americans while working, and my English improved through talking with customers – albeit on a superficial level.”

“D.C. is a well-designed city. It has beautiful landscapes, fresh air, and kind people – unlike New York City with its forest of buildings, traffic jams, and rude people. By comparison, Washington is clean and peaceful, and it has an economically stable structure.”

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