I really do apologize for not posting last week. Main reason is that it’s been so busy in the past two weeks keeping up with my internship and classes. In short: I received my grades, did some fascinating work over at my internship, joined Code For DC and FedEx’ed some love over to my girlfriend! I even had the opportunity to do a bit of tourism!

Biking through DC

So I’ve been in DC for about three weeks and haven’t seen anything other than my morning commute, the grocery store, and the US Capitol. My roommates planned to go out for the day, so I decided to join them. Besides, the weather was so fantastic that it would be a total shame to say inside.

We went to the Washington Monument, and halfway there, we decided that biking there would be a ‘fun’ option. After fiddling with the rental system for 30 minutes, we finally managed to rent three bikes.

I had considered biking through DC before even getting here but was told not to by a few people due to the cumbersome and dangerous traffic, and to be honest, the first few minutes were terrifying. However, when you adjust to DC traffic (which happens quite quickly), you actually start enjoying riding through DC. And hey, I am still alive, so I think it’s an idea worth repeating. And I will confirm: people in DC can’t drive, I would feel comfortable by saying that one out of ten cars is damaged here. So being attentive while biking is always recommended.

We, unfortunately, weren’t really careful about the bike availability at some bike stops, so sadness was ensured at the end of that day.

Coding for DC

Since we have to engage ourselves in the DC community, I decided to start Coding for DC, an awesome community that addresses social issues in and around IT. One of their projects tries to open all government data so everyone can use, share and analyze this data to their heart’s content.

They’re a very cool bunch, and I see myself doing a lot of things there. 🙂

Getting my grades

Getting these was quite a milestone for me – actually having made my final exam at the Erasmus University College. My bachelor’s degree is now 99% completed and I now only have to finish my thesis and internship. I am not going to go into too much depth regarding my grades, but I am euphoric with what I have achieved in the past years. I would have never thought that any of this would be possible after being labeled with a “learning disorder.”

In the same spirit, I also want to thank everyone that did actually believe in my goals and coped with my oddities. You know who you are, and I really appreciate you.

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