Not all learning happens in the classroom.
For Hope Canlas, ’25, part of her Hillsdale College education was participating in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program (WHIP) during the spring 2024 semester. She was part of a small group of Hillsdale students that journeyed to Hillsdale’s Washington, D.C., campus, the Kirby Center, to live and work in the capital city while taking night classes from the professors on site.
This semester-long “study-abroad” program is one of the unique opportunities presented by Hillsdale College, and for Hope, it was a great one. A political economy major, she interned at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Specifically, she worked for the Foundation’s Roe Economics Department, which specializes in energy policy.
Hope called her work with the Heritage Foundation the “best experience I could have asked for.” Her internship was meaningful work—it wasn’t just grabbing coffee for the higher-ups. She did a lot of research about energy policy failures and successes by looking through databases and articles.
The internship culture in D.C. is vibrant, and Hope said that people are willing to take the time to chat with you one-on-one to help you further your career. She personally had coffee with multiple mentors, including every member of the Heritage Foundation’s economics department. For Hope, the networking opportunities were invaluable. She called them meaningful life conversations.
The reason Hope decided to participate in WHIP was for the professional experience. Having a full semester of work experience in the nation’s capital offered a valuable resume-builder. She also wanted to learn what it was like living in the big city, and found it was unforgettable to be a five-minute walk from the nation’s capital, with memorials in her own backyard. An economics professor, Dr. Christopher Martin, inspired her with the charge to “go out into the world and make an impact with economics.”
The WHIP program also illuminated new paths for Hope. While she previously thought she would only do technical work, her internship with the Heritage Foundation proved that she also enjoyed work with writing as a central focus. Hope explained that employers are looking for people with the ability to write well—something a Hillsdale College education equips you to do with excellence.
Work isn’t the only part of the WHIP experience, however. The undergraduates on WHIP are still students, which means they take night classes from on-site professors. Hope took Economics and Public Policy, a class that counted toward her major, and Continental Literature, a class for Hillsdale College’s core curriculum. She said that the WHIP work-life balance was intense, but she benefited from the demanding schedule. One of the key skills that Hope honed through her experience was time management.
Hope advises students who are considering WHIP to think about the opportunities it can offer. “WHIP is life-changing. It puts you ahead of the game,” Hope said. “The experience will test you in different ways. Managing your busy schedule while living in a big city is a challenge.”
WHIP is a selling point for a lot of students coming into Hillsdale College, and while there are challenges that come with it, Hope and other students who have taken advantage of the program have grown as students, workers, and people. Sometimes, the most formative moments of our education come outside of the classroom when we venture out into the world.
Brennan Berryhill, ’27, hails from Denver, Colorado, and when he isn’t writing or obsessively taking notes, you can find him playing trombone, debating, or nerding out over football.