A semester in DC with few friends, colleagues, or contacts can be a daunting prospect. But it’s safe to say Daniel Merritt left the capital with all of the above, thanks to an action-packed semester at the Kogod School of Business.
“I came into DC with zero network,” he acknowledged. “But I had ideas. I had goals.”
A rising junior undergraduate student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, Merritt found a like-minded community at the Kogod School of Business: one that shared his interest in exploring the intersection of business and sustainability.
Merritt came to DC this past winter as part of the Washington Semester program. A 75-year staple of AU, the program boasts a gold-standard combination of DC internships, seminars, networking, and coursework on the AU campus.
Merritt interned at Creative Investment Research, a financial non-profit focused on holding private firms accountable to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles as part of his semester in Washington.
In addition to his coursework at AU, Merritt found a wealth of opportunities to collaborate with students and award-winning faculty members. He also embarked on research that may someday help major corporations operate more sustainably and profitably.