The celebration is small but significant: Ten years ago this week, on Thursday to be exact, WCSC officially moved from cramped quarters at the much-beloved, but run-down “This Old House” to the spacious renovated brick three-story building on Taylor Avenue. (The house was not quite ready for immediate occupancy; the first group of students moved in January of 2006).

The noisemakers and party hats are only a precursor to next year’s 40th anniversary celebration, said Schmidt, a professor of history who can’t resist offering some historical context for .

“��ݮ����’s D.C. program started in 1976,” she added. “That’s one year after the Vietnam War ended and two years after Nixon resigned. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same.”

Servant leadership part of program vision

One thing that hasn’t changed for EMU’s longest-running cross-cultural program is its unwavering commitment to teaching about servant leadership and social justice, as epitomized by its first director and the building’s namesake, Nelson Good.

Good, who first came to Washington D.C. as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, founded and directed the Washington Study Service Year (WSSY) until his retirement in 1986. As a member of the advisory council, he offered mentorship through programmatic changes in 2002 – reflected in the name-change to Washington Community Scholar’s Center – and then spearheaded the search for a new and larger facility that was closer to public transportation and academic institutions (EMU students at that time attended classes at Catholic University of America and Howard University).

“This Old House” had been used for decades previously by Mennonite service agencies, but despite the nostalgic connections, it was clearly time to move elsewhere: zoning restrictions prevented any upgrades or expansions and the house was not handicapped-accessible.

Good reconnoitered the city, knocked on doors, interviewed prospective sellers, and eventually talked one couple into letting their property go at a reasonable price. The months-long renovation process included “a lot of sweat equity,” Schmidt said, as well as a sizable financial commitment from EMU. Additionally, WCSC alumni and other donors contributed more than $100,000 toward the renovation costs.

When the well-wishers gathered to celebrate Aug. 20, 2005, the afternoon blessing and celebration included speeches, music, remembrances of alumni, and a tribute to Good, who had passed way from cancer just months before. His daughter Deborah, a WSCS participant in 2002, shared a poem, and alumni and friends were also invited to plant a butterfly garden in the backyard.

That garden continues to flourish, Schmidt says. “It’s a beautiful space. The students use it for barbecues and reading a book and just hanging out. If you look in the garden, it’s clearly a place where college students are, and I mean that in a good way.”

Experiencing life in an urban environment

If the garden has been obviously staked out by college students – who come from EMU, Goshen College, Bluffton University, and most recently, through a new articulation agreement with Regis University in Colorado – the three-story brick apartment building, Schmidt says, is quietly innocuous, also in a good way.

Students experience life in a predominately African-American neighborhood with a growing population of foreign-born residents and a Catholic presence (friars-in-training from the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America regularly walk by). The sits between three academic institutions: Catholic American University (CUA), Trinity Washington University and Howard University Divinity School. The CUA/Brooklands metro station bisects the neighborhood and its urban attractions: several restaurants, a coffee-slash-bike shop called ; the mixed-use , featuring a thriving studio arts scene with regular music and dance events; a Barnes and Noble; and a few places to find that staple of college life: pizza.

The modern design of the Good House was a perfect and restful complement to the urban experience, says Emily Blake, who lived there that first spring semester and later was assistant director from 2008-2012. “The city can be this crazy collage of interactions and weird and wonderful sights. It’s nice to come home to a place that’s simple and beautiful, and filled with people who know you.”

Fellow WSCS participant Aerlande Wontamo remembers the house that spring was “new, clean and perfect.” She has fond memories of dinners in the common area, walking to and from the metro, and being befriended by local bus drivers. Wontamo took classes at Howard University and worked with the Ethiopian Community Development Council in Arlington, a connection which years later led her to her current position as senior resettlement manager for Lutheran Social Services. She’s lived in the D.C. metro area for about eight years, a decision she traces back to the positive experience of living in the Nelson Good House.

“So many lives continue to be transformed by EMU’s commitment to the WCSC program. This house is the place where that happens, and we honor Nelson Good’s memory by helping students make more memories,” Schmidt said.

The result: Wharton took advantage of finishing prerequisites early by spending the spring semester of her sophomore year at the (WCSC), where she interned at the in Washington D.C.

The experience “gave me a solid foundation for the next two years of ,” Wharton said. “And most of the time job rejections come in the form of lack of experience, so having an internship directly in my future career would hopefully help my resume.”

Add to that the fun of living in and exploring around Washington D.C. with friends and a true , and Wharton says she gained far more than just vocational preparation. She has a new found confidence in her ability to navigate urban streets, and lots of great memories of new territory explored with friends.

Plan ahead for better internship experience

Building a foundation of “cultural competency” and learning special communication skills was an important emphasis.

Wharton’s choice is one that WCSC director hopes other pre-professional students will think about in the future. For many students in pre-professional programs with demanding course schedules, finding time for the required cross-cultural experience is difficult. Summer travel is one option, but with foresight and planning, students can fulfill cross-cultural requirements and gain valuable on-the-job training during the fall and spring semesters, said Schmidt.

“Over these terms, more opportunities are available in Washington DC, and supervisors have more energy and time for individualized instruction,” says Schmidt.

With fewer interns competing for attention, supervisors like registered nurse Roxana Trejo, at Marie Reed, can take the time to teach, guide and mentor.

“Marie Reed is a wonderful learning environment, perfect for students who have little clinical experience and have not entered into nursing clinical rotations yet,” says Schmidt. “And because of our history and networking in the city, we have many other placement options that can meet other the needs of other pre-professional majors as well.”

Intercultural nursing

Community of Hope has hosted EMU students since the internship program began in 1976 as the Washington Study Service Year (WSSY). The organization helps low-income families, including the homeless and refugees, with housing, health issues, and employment. Originally a ministry of the Church of the Nazarene, the organization has been independently run as a non-profit since 1980 and is widely recognized and respected for its work.

Marie Reed, in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood, is one of three health centers operated by Community of Hope. There, Wharton worked with grandmothers and their four-day-old grandchildren in the same day and with refugees “from Russia to Ethiopia to South Africa and everywhere in between,” she said. She helped homeless people and young struggling professionals looking for inexpensive healthcare.

“I didn’t think traveling just a short distance from EMU would expose me to so much diversity,” she said.

In her daily responsibilities, Wharton worked with the medical assistants to conduct pre-visit record reviews. She greeted and “roomed” patients, many of whom had limited English proficiency, took their vital signs and medical history, sometimes with the help of translators, and then entered information into the medical database.

“Sometime we go to the lab and run tests, give shots, or assist the providers (doctors),” she said. “It’s a lot to get done within a limited amount of time but it’s taught me so much about the operating system of the health care field and even more about effective ways to communicate with patients.”

Building a foundation of “cultural competency” and learning special communication skills was an important emphasis. “‘Up’ and ‘down’ may seem like simple words,” Wharton said in a chapel presentation back on the EMU campus in April, “but in the context of discussing a dose of medicine, a miscommunication could result in serious problems.”

Since working in the public health field, Wharton says she’s unsure which particular speciality she’s interested in, but the experience confirmed her desire to become a nurse. She does know, however, that her time at Marie Reed has helped lay a strong foundation of critical skills for her future.

“Since I started my internship before my clinicals, everything I’ve learned about actually practicing nursing I owe to Marie Reed,” she said. “The staff here is beyond wonderful to work with and they all cared so much about helping me learn what I needed to be successful.”

Living and working in the city

In the end, Wharton’s WCSC experience was a positive one, and that is partly due to her own motivation, says , assistant director, who observed Wharton’s “blooming” during the semester. (Kauffman, Schmidt and communications director are integral to the Nelson Good House community life: “This program wouldn’t have been as special to me had it not been for them,” Wharton wrote in a later email.)

“Any cross-cultural is what a student makes of it,” said Kauffman, who has conducted graduate research into cross-cultural studies in faith-based environments. “Between handling a variety of challenging situations in her internship adeptly and with great compassion, and stretching herself personally, Nancy has pushed the boundaries of her comfort zone intentionally and repeatedly.”

From visiting approximately 100 ethnic restaurants (yes, the housemates kept track) to exploring museums and enjoying concerts and sporting events, Wharton and her fellow cross-cultural students definitely made most of their experience together. That made all difference for Wharton, who was initially hesitant about living and working in the urban environment.

“It was great living in such a supportive environment,” she said. “I’m very thankful for my housemates and they’ve made this semester a great one for me.”