CLHS graduate follows grandmother’s footsteps on a path to success

Grandparents frequently hand down family heirlooms, but they also impart wisdom. So when Evie Osterman spoke glowingly about American University’s Washington Semester® Program, her granddaughter Alexa Calaguas took note. Osterman attended the Washington Semester Program in the fall of 1960 in the nation’s capitol.  “It was the catalyst for the rest of my life,” she says now. 

In 2014, Calaguas, who graduated from Clear Lake High School last year, is following in her grandmother’s footsteps and is attending WSP.

A Life-Changing Experience

In 1960, Osterman was a politically-engaged, Boston-based college student looking to explore Washington, D.C.  Then, at a propitious moment, she discovered the Washington Semester Program.  “That fall was the election of John F. Kennedy. And so, if you’re a political animal, it was a great time to be in Washington,” says Osterman, who would work on the Kennedy campaign. She later attended Kennedy’s historic inauguration in early 1961.

“The [WSP] program changed my life because I decided that I wanted to move to Washington after graduation,” she says. Like so many other Americans, Kennedy’s famous words—”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”—resonated with her. She then took a job at the D.C. headquarters of the Peace Corps, which was headed by Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver. Osterman would spend the next 35 years of her life in the D.C. area.

This semester, Calaguas has made the most of her time at WSP.  She’s focused on international law, and she took part in trips to the World Bank headquarters in D.C. and the United Nations in New York City. She is also interning at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. “I find the program really interesting because it’s not the typical structure of ‘Oh, I’m going to take classes for the semester.’ We get to hear from people in the actual fields that we’re learning about,” says Calaguas.

She also praises the school’s diversity, as WSP attracts students from a vast array of geographic locations. Her roommate is from Norway, and her class also includes students from Eritrea, Ghana, Japan, and Kazakhstan. “We’re from all over, and it’s great because we bring different perspectives from different countries and different universities,” she says.

The Classroom is D.C.

This multi-generational participation illustrates the value of the Washington Semester Program, explains Calaguas.  A plethora of opportunities await students when they come to AU for a semester. Students choose a program of study, such as global economics and business, journalism and new media, or public health.  And students then take part in seminars, which are different from traditional classes.

“I would recommend the program to everyone. It facilitates so many opportunities to explore that normally students wouldn’t have access to. I have had lectures at the World Bank, the United Nations, the Iranian Mission to the UN, the Pentagon, and many other amazing places. Not to mention our trips to New York City in order to see one of the Mecca’s of the international world. We didn’t just see the superficial outside, but we were able to see the inner workings of the international system,” said Calaguas.

The professors have extensive experience in their chosen fields, and they maintain numerous professional connections in Washington. Professors use those contacts to invite senior-