International Student House Washington, DC

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The Final Countdown to ISH Begins!

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As soon as I found out about ISH I knew I wanted to live there. Before my four-year undergraduate experience, I lived and studied at an international boarding school in Montezuma, New Mexico called the United World College USA (UWC-USA). UWC-USA consists of a campus of 200 students from over 80 countries. The experience of living in such a diverse environment caused my worldview to be simultaneously challenged and expanded in a life-changing way. Ultimately, ISH’s similar mission of fostering cross-cultural exchanges and forming global connections is what makes me most excited to move in and become part of the community.

Aside from the diversity of nationalities and personal stories behind how ISH residents and staff ended up in Washington, I appreciate the fact that ISH students attend a variety of universities. I am curious to compare and contrast my graduate school experiences with others at ISH, each of us with a unique perspective based on our concentration, extracurricular interests and university affiliations. Personally, I decided on Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service for my graduate studies because I will be entering the U.S. Foreign Service after I graduate through the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship program.

Another feature about ISH that I look forward to is getting to know the neighborhood where it is situated. I have spent the past two summers living and interning in Washington D.C. but I am not too familiar with DuPont Circle area. I look forward to exploring and discovering what the neighborhood has to offer. Foggy Bottom and U Street, the areas where I’ve lived in the past, were very different environments, so I’m curious to compare and discover more of the greater DC metro area. And I couldn’t be happier about living in a city with so many Ethiopian restaurants, an aspect of my Ethiopian-American culture that I love sharing!

I committed to living at ISH several months ago, and it’s hard to believe that the seemingly distant August 15 move-in date is so close. I am very excited for what is to come now that ISH will become my home in a matter of days!

About Zinna Senbetta

Country: USA
School: Georgetown University
Field of Study: Global Politics and Security
Bio: Zinna is an Ethiopian-American student at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service where she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Politics and Security. She is originally from Wheaton, Illinois but most recently lived in New Jersey where she completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a minor in French Language and Culture at Princeton University. Zinna studied abroad at the Sorbonne University in Paris in the spring of 2016 and interned at an international law NGO in Paris called the Union Internationale des Avocats. The summer of 2016 she was a campaigns intern for the Young African Leaders Initiative Network Program under the Bureau of International Information Programs in Washington, DC. Most recently she was an intern for the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Capitol Hill. Zinna is a 2017 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellow and will focus on Public Diplomacy as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer upon completion of graduate school. She hopes to concentrate on issues related to the rights of women and girls, education, and human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.

International Student House of Washington, DC | 1825 R Street, NW | Washington, DC 20009

International Student House of Washington, DC is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 organization located near Dupont Circle in the heart of Washington, DC. Donations will help support our mission to provide an exceptional residential experience to a highly diverse international community of graduate students, interns and visiting scholars. The House promotes inter-cultural dialogue, encourages life-long connections, and fosters global citizenship.