Meet Kanika Metre. She was a part of IAC from 2005-2006 and went on to become a Graduate Assistant with the Women's Leadership Program.
Life Beyond WLP: Through a panel organized by WLP, I presented at the 2006 Women as Global Leaders Conference in Dubai. In 2007, I was awarded GW's George Gamow Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and spent the summer in India with the IA&C Program Coordinator, Professor May Buckley, researching and documenting women-led grassroots development projects. We presented the resulting documentary last spring at the Women as Global Leaders Conference in Dubai, and will be presenting the film again at the George Gamow Research Sympossium in the spring of 2009. I spent all of last year abroad, studying at the London School of Economics. Additionally, I have interned at the United Nations Headquarters and Trixie Films in New York. This fall, I will be interning at International Relief & Development, a non-profit organization in Arlington, Virginia.
On WLP Academics: As an International Affairs major, WLP's International Arts & Culture cohort allowed me the opportunity to branch out from my usual areas of course work. Not only did I learn a great deal about women artists and get to see a wide variety of stimulating art pieces around D.C., but I was also able to build strong relationships with faculty members and gain opportunities such as presenting at the Women as Global Leaders Conference in the United Arab Emirates. Through WLP, I met program director Professor Mary Buckley, with whom I have subsequently traveled to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and conducted research in three different states in India. In addition, the classes I took with WLP inspired me to double major in women's studies and to aspire to work with gender issues within international development.
On Community: After taking part in an all-girls education throughout elementary and middle school, I was quite sure that I had had my fill of single-sex programs. However, the community environment that WLP has allowed me to build extremely strong relationships with young women. As a senior, I am still in close touch with my peers from the International Arts & Culture cohort, and I know that these are the kinds of friendships that will last a lifetime.
WLP gives you the chance to take part in small classes that enable not only lively discussion but the chance to build strong relationships with your peers, teaching assistants, and professors. Making use of that opportunity by discussing your interests and possible future plans (among many other things) with these people outside of class is the best advice that I can give incoming students in terms of how to best utilize the WLP experience and everything it has to offer.
Beyond the ordinary Freshman experience: WLP gives you the chance to take part in small classes that enable not only lively discussion but the chance to build strong relationships with your peers, teaching assistants and faculty. Making use of that opportunity by discussing your interests and possible future plans (among many other things) with these people outside of class is the best advice that I can give incoming students in terms of how to best utilize the WLP experience and everything it has to offer.