It is that time of year where friends asks me, “When do you leave?” My response is “I do not.” My friends then put on this confused face as if I am saying something that is not even in a language that they understand.

Then, I explain; my sarcastic response is not because I am taking a summer class, even though I am, or because I have some lucrative internship on the Hill or in the White House; My response is because DC has been my home long before many of my peers ever knew that there was a George Washington University. I was born in Silver Spring, Maryland and was raised in the District for the majority of my life.

Unfortunately, many do not know the full extent of DC and I do not blame them; you have not been here as long as I have. Attending GW, I know the reaches of people knowledges when it comes to the District because I have been trapped inside that Foggy Bottom bubble too.

My home does include the White House, Capitol Hill and whatever is usually trapped inside the GW bubble. More importantly, my home includes walking around and seeing the influences of strong black men and women alike who built a city into something great.

My home is where you see the murals depicting fascinating stories that are not well renowned all over the nation. In my home, you can hear Jazz and much more as you walk near major metro stations like Chinatown and L’Enfant Plaza, even Foggy Bottom at times.

My home is where you may hear of Go-Go Music and Mumbo sauce for the first time. My home is where the late, great Marion Barry is the Mayor forever and women like Eleanor Holmes Norton are powerhouses in our government.

Now that it is summer, I am able to get back to this and I no longer have an excuse to avoid my family. I get to go back to well-prepared home cooked meals and having my mother or grandmother pay for anything I want with them. Friends and I start the summer tradition of bar crawling (hookah bars of course).

We visit our primary schools because they are still in session and we want to know the gossip about the current class there now. Perhaps the best thing is after about 9 months on a twin sized mattress, I get to relax like there is no tomorrow in a queen.

However, since coming to GW, going back home is not exactly like in the olden days. I bring something new back home and something at home is always changing every time I go back. It is almost like an integration of two different cultures that are evolving at the same time (I would like to see someone doing calculus try to solve that integration). Thus, I keep the native in me while learning about the world outside of DC from friends and their family.

So, during the summer what do most native Washingtonian do? One of the greatest things that DC has to offer for it children is The Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program (MBSYEP). The Department of Employment Services (DOES), with DC funds, provides DC residents from ages 14 to 24 with beneficial summer work experience in both the public and private sectors.

This is does more good than most realizes because it provides many of the African-American and other minority youths from the city a chance be productive during their summers whereas it could be a chance for more unfavorable activities. It is a great program that many of my friends have done and do come home to do this summer.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of opportunities here from the two forms of governments, a plethora of firms and businesses and tons of monuments and museums that people can find something in this city to enjoy. DC is changing everyday from the people to the streets and buildings. We literally have the worst drivers because we have drivers from the 50 states and other countries.

We even have these mini police parades that go back-and-forth to and from the White House for some reason that has made me late to class several times. Summer in DC allows me to take all of this in without stressing over exams, paper or whatever crazy things professors like to throw at students these days.