Maybe There Is A Light at The End of The Tunnel!

As I scroll through potential internships on the State Department website to get a feel for what I'm applying for, I realize how awesome my majors are. Classes for International Affairs, Editing Writing and Media with an added French minor can be quite laborious, and to be honest, I lose my focus at points but when I look through this it seems like it just may be worth it in the end. Right now I'm applying to work in the Bureau of International Information Programs where potential internship tasks would be:

• To work through daily articles published on USINFO, web chats and digital video conferences (DVCs) between public opinion leaders and overseas audiences, monthly electronic journals, and overseas speaker programs, IIP presents U.S. policy on foreign, economic, security, and global issues, as well as information about American society and values to the rest of the world.
• To enjoy full inclusion and participation with our full-time staff, and your bylined articles will have a global audience, in multiple languages, thanks to the Internet and U.S. embassy officials who place them in local media.
• Attending and writing articles about speeches and press conferences by senior U.S. officials, programs at Washington-based think tanks and nongovernmental organizations, congressional hearings and cultural events
• Design and conduct web chats and DVCs that allow interaction and communication between foreign audiences and opinion leaders in the areas of culture, science, politics and business
• Assist in the production of electronic journals, IIP’s online magazines, which examine a wide range of issues such as human rights, narcotics, terrorism, American society, democracy, and information technology
• Assess, recruit and schedule U.S. officials, people from the academic community and subject specialists for overseas speaking and training programs
• Assist in the provision of information research to public diplomacy officials at home and abroad using top-of-the-line proprietary databases

Or the overseas internship in Europe where I could potentially:

• Conduct U.S. foreign relations with countries in Europe
• Direct, coordinate, and supervise U.S. government activities within these regions, including consular and administrative management issues, and U.S. assistance
• In addition to working on country-specific issues, the bureau offers the opportunity to do multilateral work related to the European Union, NATO, the OSCE, the OECD, the G-8, and the Council of Europe
• "Applicants interested in these multilateral positions should specifically note such interest in their Statement of Interest. in Washington, D.C., and abroad at certain U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the year. When available, housing is provided to interns assigned abroad. For students applying for an internship abroad, you will have an opportunity to specify the country in which you are willing to pursue your internship. You may elaborate on your choices in your Statement of Interest. Duties of both domestic and overseas interns are similar in nature to that of an entry-level professional."

These are just two different positions out of many others that seem absolutely incredible, but these are what I narrowed my interests down for my application. I'll admit to losing sight of where I was going in school, what I was doing with my degrees, and even started to show it in my classes. However, this has helped me regain my sight and direction and I hope that even if I don't get chosen to intern here that I'll eventually work in a setting like this!

Twitter- A Media Revolution

Since I've started using Twitter, I have found a whole new way of receiving my news. As I think about it, Twitter is a blend of news completely different from Facebook where I only hear about people in my life, or news websites- It's a liason linking me to all of them. As I scroll through what seems like endless tweets, I can follow everyone from my father to USAID, Kim Kardashian to the New York Times. Even The Pope has a Twitter! Because of this, people can now send messages to their followers in real-time rather than going through multiple steps of publicists and scheduled news timings for simple messages.

Right now since I'm focused on getting an internship with the State Department, I have started following their tweets to see what's going on around the world and what they're doing to participate in world issues. It completely blows my mind how closely connected just a follow can be- For example, this morning I found out about a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in a province of Turkey that I had once visited through tweets from the State Department, where I could then click on links leading me to more information on what exactly happened. They keep a live update by sending messages whenever their representatives have something relevant to say to the public. Another example of this is when Osama Bin Laden had been captured, the message had gotten out on Twitter faster than Obama's address to the nation. Talk about revolutionary!

The door to the ease of access of information has been opened through the internet, and it seems that Twitter is a major moving force. To keep up digitally, I'm following future employers closely and have read of opportunities through their tweets. I also have a part-time writing job where I have seen the benefits of tweeting a new article. Because I can add tags, it has made starting out less strenuous by having articles under the tags that I post with them. By actively engaging in Twitter, I can see how keeping up digitally is important. The way information is transferred is on hyper-speed, especially when people like me are preparing to become active working citizens. I can see that it is a revolution in the digital age and I'm excited to see how it evolves!

Tigris

In Summer of 2010, I went to Turkey to do a study abroad for Political Science. While we were there, we went on excursions throughout the country to explore different regions, political institutions and cultures. One day we went to the Tigris River in Southeastern Turkey to tour and explore the region, where I was later inspired to write a creative piece based on my experience that day. I wrote it for another editing class, and have it saved on another personal blog as the first of many creative pieces I have written in my spare time. Although I am interested in reporting or working in foreign relations, I would also be interested in blogging about travel experiences and this is the piece that relatively sparked my interest.

The bus doors swing open and I’m immediately greeted by a blast of hot air and the sound of a wailing prayer from a mosque just barely in earshot. The two hour bus ride seemed to go all too quickly- then again, it’s something I expected after international flights and multiple weeks of touring around the country while I wasn’t in class. The sun is high, and I can’t find my sunglasses in the mess of crap that I’ve accumulated in the past day of traveling Southeastern Turkey. Not to mention, I’m irritated from my lack of sleep and whatever isn’t agreeing with me from dinner the night before. I eventually find my camera and slowly trail the group of dragging students from the bus into the sweltering heat. I let my eyes adjust to the brightness, and start taking pictures. We’re in the Batman province of Turkey, and no, Robin was nowhere in sight. However, we were only a few hours’ drive away from the borders near Syria and Iraq.

So this is what the Tigris River looks like.

We’re at the top of a hill, looking down to the shore of the river. Little Kurdish children start to swarm the bus, handing us notes in English saying “I love you,” while offering their services as tour guides. Where their parents were, I don’t know. But these kids knew how to hustle. Growing up in Colorado, I expected something raging with class 5 rapids, something that had the sublimity of the Grand Canyon or Pikes Peak that roared with grandeur. But this isn’t so. The Tigris is a slow flowing, wide and shallow river that has a light murky turquoise color- something I had never seen before. It moves with the ease of a wise old woman who is in no hurry to get from here to there, carrying stories from civilizations that we can only read about in history books. Its intimidation wasn’t stemming from its size or intensity, but its calm beauty and significance in the world.

After a few moments of taking pictures, we notice a group of people gathering together by the riverbank and the crowd is growing quickly. I turn around, and see a young boy talking to our tour guide while pointing to the congregation. “There’s a little boy in there. He’s been down for a couple of minutes and he hasn’t come up from the water… I guess he tried to cross with his father and got swept under,” the tour guide says. The child tells this story like it’s regular town gossip. The tour guide’s face has a look of concern but helplessness. The crowd is growing larger now.

We continue our walk across the bridge into the town. As we pass through a street laden with Mesoptamya shops and cafes, we could see more and more people look down to the riverbank to see if they could spot the boy. Making our way to a deck overseeing the river, we could now see a life raft with people searching the bottom in one direction. In the other direction, people are sitting on the café porch drinking tea, watching the spectacle from the shade. “This happens all too often. Life is cheap here,” says the professor. We head down to the banks to take pictures and pick up some rocks, while trying not to get the scene in the background. “I think they’re close to finding the body, we should go,” someone said after about ten minutes. Slowly, we make our way back up to the bus. Once again greeted by children, we exchange goodbyes, and take the road back to what we consider real life with our newfound memories from the birthplace of civilization.

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Even if creative writing isn't my full time career, it has been some of the fuel to my writing fire. I know that if I want to be successful, I need to keep up with the digital age in my writing skills and learn how to write for online media and how to target my audience when literally anyone can access what I write. Since I want to know how to work with journaling online just posting something like this on this blog is another step in gaining experience!