Nation's capital offers plenty of opportunities for UMD grads

But they don't really know each other. They were invited to join the UMass Dartmouth-Washington DC Alumni Club on Facebook by friends of friends or by their friend's friend's friend.

Some of them were willing to share their stories of life in the capital city, to talk about their dreams and to reflect on whether the real world is what they expected.

Lee Lukoff, a Republican from South Dartmouth, came here for the politics after graduating in May with a degree in political science. With no Republican Members of Congress from Massachusetts, Mr. Lukoff sent out applications to Republicans in both the House and Senate, and said he was fortunate to get an internship with Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla.

"I really liked my internship because every day I felt like I was doing something important," said Mr. Lukoff, a graduate of Dartmouth High School.

He said he learned how Congress works from the inside and how a congressional office works. He was responsible for writing letters to constituents about issues they were concerned about, compiling newspaper articles and attending committee hearings and policy briefings, where he would take notes and write memos.

"Despite the fact that I was unpaid, few people get the chance to intern for a congressman, and the experience can pave the path to future jobs in politics and in government," Mr. Lukoff said.

Rep. Feeney lost his seat in the Nov. 4 elections, and Mr. Lukoff, like other office staff, is helping pack up the office and moving on to job hunting in other congressional offices, think tanks, interest groups and non-profit organizations.

Amy Morse also was a political science major and graduated from UMD in 2003. Ms. Morse works as a communications and policy associate at a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, the Committee for Economic Development.

After graduating from college, Ms. Morse was hired by the John Kerry presidential campaign and worked for a year in her home state of New Hampshire campaigning for the 2004 Democratic nominee.

She held signs in the freezing cold, made hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and made more phone calls than most people make in a lifetime.

Now she said she values Washington as a place for public service more than a place for politics.

"Working in economics is a great perspective on how valuable our human resources are in this country," she said.

When she was in college she did an internship with Youth Serve in New Bedford, working as a mentor to at-risk youths; in Washington, she volunteers with the public school reform effort.

Ms. Morse said she dreams of running for office in New Hampshire. "I really enjoy policy and working with people."

Nicole Di Fabio, a 2006 graduate from UMass Dartmouth, said she is semi-involved in politics, noting that, "I feel that everything is political to some extent or another."

Ms. Di Fabio's job as a research associate at the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology is her first job after graduation. She said she was very persistent in looking for jobs related to her majors — anthropology and women's studies — and she dreams of being a professor of those subjects.

"Many people may view these disciplines to be more abstract, and not understand what comes from having a background in these areas," Ms. Di Fabio said. "But in reality, these disciplines help you to understand life and other people as deeply as one can without actually being in the person's shoes."

In Ms. Di Fabio's opinion, Washington is a city that seems to value social science far more than other cities do. So she looked endlessly in the "right places," she said. "I would have continued to look until I found what I thought was right for me."

In February 2008, her alma mater's women's studies department invited her to speak on a panel with pioneering feminist Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. Magazine, in front of more than 200 people. "I think that is one moment in my life that I will always remember and value above all others," she said.

For Paul Ferrari, an English literature major who also graduated in 2006, his most valuable lessons at college were not directly from classes but from his involvement with the UMD Theater Company, a student-run organization.

In his senior year, he was the president and company manager and learned not only how to work with his peers but how to cope with a variety of administrative tasks, including negotiating the university's bureaucratic contracting system.

Originally from Webster, Mr. Ferrari is currently working as a communications associate at a nonprofit national education organization, the Council of Chief State School Officers.

"I am interested in politics, and am thrilled to be living in D.C. during such an exciting time in American history," Mr. Ferrari said.

But, he said, he will probably end up working in the arts in some capacity. Before moving to Washington, he had a year-long internship at a theater in Florida. Though it was a great experience, Mr. Ferrari said, it wasn't "socially and professionally where I wanted and needed to be."

In Washington, he said, "there's always someone willing to engage in a conversation about current events and what's going on around them. I feel like it was harder to have those conversations in other places."

The mix of people and the opportunity to talk about current events is one of the attractions of the city, Mr. Ferrari said.

The four UMD graduates say they enjoy meeting friends after work, spending time at the gym and visiting the city's many public and private museums.

Mr. Lukoff, who minored in history, said his favorite museum is the National Archives. Ms. Morse, who likes art, favors the Philips Collection and the National Gallery of Art. Ms. Di Fabio loves the National Museum of Women in the Arts. And Mr. Ferrari is a big fan of the National Gallery of Art as well as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

"Work hard and play hard" is a Washington mantra, Ms. Morse said. However, after one year of living in Washington, she has found it is too expensive to "play hard." Young people working on the Hill and for nonprofit organizations don't make much money, she said.

To all the four of them, the difference between campus and professional life has a common point — a relatively fixed schedule.

"I understand now why my parents went to bed so early when I was younger," Ms. Di Fabio said. "Working full time really changes the amount of energy I have when the work day ends."

As to the future, three of them have a specific graduate school plan. Mr. Lukoff is a part-time public policy student at George Mason University. Ms. Morse is applying for a public affairs master's program at American University. Ms. Di Fabio is to start her graduate studies in anthropology at George Washington University in January.

As for Mr. Ferrari, he said, "I haven't made plans to settle down and live here forever."

What's the next stop for him? "I will probably move to where grad school brings me next.

I am not in a rush to find that out yet."