{"id":21440,"date":"2014-09-05T13:39:50","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T17:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=21440"},"modified":"2016-11-10T10:50:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T15:50:53","slug":"washington-community-scholars-center-proves-good-springboard-to-d-c-employment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/washington-community-scholars-center-proves-good-springboard-to-d-c-employment\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Community Scholars’ Center opens door to D.C. employment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Quenzer was always intrigued by the idea of living in a \u201cbig city.\u201d So right after earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science in May, the Visalia, California native spent the summer on his cross-cultural experience at the Washington Community Scholars’ Center (WCSC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What he discovered in those 10 weeks as an intern surprised him \u2013 and prepared him make the commitment to begin his career in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cI finished the WCSC program on Friday and started my new job on Monday,\u201d Quenzer said, shortly after an evening commute to his newly rented apartment in the Northwest neighborhood of Petworth. \u201cI thought WCSC would be a great experience of living in a big city for two and a half months. I couldn\u2019t imagine doing it for a long period of time, and I was never expecting to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now director of technology at Financial Education and Literacy Associates (FELA)<\/a>, Quenzer manages the outsourced development of the D.C.-based start-up company, which offers personalized online programs that teach consumers how to improve their financial situation.<\/p>\n

In an odd twist, Quenzer\u2019s new job isn\u2019t a result of his summer internship with Sojourners<\/em><\/a>, working on the Christian publication\u2019s website. Instead it was the result of networking opportunities provided by WCSC alumnus Joel Murray \u201814 and the program\u2019s former associate director, Sheldon C. Good.<\/p>\n

WCSC internships regularly lead to offers of full-time employment, according to program director Kimberly D. Schmidt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This was the case for Murray, a business administration major who had interned the previous semester with FELA. After graduating in May, Murray accepted full-time employment with the company. He then contacted Quenzer about doing freelance web design and consulting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in several times throughout the summer and got to know the company better,\u201d Quenzer said. \u201cAnd it turned out they needed someone with my skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quenzer had some real concerns, however. \u201cNinety percent of start-ups fail, so there was a real risk for me to take out an annual lease on an apartment in Washington D.C. without some assurance of financial stability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Discussions with Good, who was a friend of the company\u2019s founder, allayed his concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really helpful,\u201d Quenzer said. “The connections I had through WCSC, and the networking opportunities, really helped me make that decision and feel it was a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quenzer also feels more comfortable in Washington D.C. than he ever imagined, thanks to the immersive, cross-cultural experience of living in WCSC\u2019s intentional community as an independent, working adult.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganizing house jobs, sharing money to buy food, learning how to get along with people from different backgrounds \u2013 all of that was a really valuable experience,\u201d Quenzer said. \u201cSome have lived in a city before and some haven\u2019t, and everyone is in a different place in their lives and you have to exist together. You get the total experience of working full-time, taking public transportation, enjoying what the city has to offer. It really gave me an idea of what it would be like.\u201d<\/p>\n

“We are proud of Stephen\u2019s accomplishments,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cHe will join many former students who, through the WCSC, have come to the city, found good work, and are now making valuable contributions to our local neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Quenzer was always intrigued by the idea of living in a \u201cbig city.\u201d So right after earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science in May, the Visalia, California native ... read more about Washington Community Scholars’ Center opens door to D.C. employment<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":21448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,17571,12632],"tags":[16007,7157,14827,8683],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-21440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-internship","category-wcsc","tag-financial-education-and-literacy-associates","tag-kimberly-d-schmidt","tag-sheldon-good","tag-sojourners-magazine"],"yoast_head":"\nWashington Community Scholars' Center opens door to D.C. employment - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/washington-community-scholars-center-proves-good-springboard-to-d-c-employment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington Community Scholars' Center opens door to D.C. employment - 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