D.C., nearly half my life later, is evidence I've changed

The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I was 14-years-old on my 8th grade class trip. It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane, but also the first time I'd ever been out of the Deep South in my life. I toured the monuments and museums and spent a day in colonial Williamsburg, Va., and it was the first time I remember realizing that there was life outside of the world I knew (I think Junior High was also the time I realized Mardi Gras is not a national holiday).

Now at 25 -- after studying abroad in Europe, traveling around the U.S., graduating college and living in the Midwest for the past six months -- I saw the city in a different way. I wasn't just on a tour bus clicking away on a disposable camera; I felt the ebb and flow of the city's character the way I do when I now walk through different parts of other cities with so much personality. The monuments were not just a pile of stone, the museums not a storage closet of old things.



D.C. is the epicenter of our country's history in that it houses many of our most valued documents and artifacts -- The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution. The museums are open history books, each exhibit a different page. I walked through the Museum of Natural History and The Holocaust museum, and I passed by the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Washington monument in awe and respect.

By far one of the best museums I've ever been to was the Newseum, the year-old home of the history of journalism. Not even four hours was enough to see everything on its six floors of video, photos, artifacts and papers, but it was worth every minute. I don't remember ever being so moved by being surrounded by history. In case you need a reminder of what journalists have accomplished over centuries of disseminating information and their imperative presence in the world, spend a few hours looking at old newspapers, typewriters, photos and videos of reporters in action.

But the true highlight of my trip was being blessed with good company. My friends took time out of their lives to visit with and host me, and my time with them reinforces that doing nearly anything in good company is worth doing. D.C. is a great city, but she's lucky to have her invaluable new residents.