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!

It's Crunch Time!

As a Junior, I'm finding that graduation is just around the corner, and I have a lot to do to prepare myself for my post-college life. I have to figure out what I'm going to do, where I want to work, and what exactly I'm looking at doing after college so I'm not the stereotypical grad living in my parent's house watching TV and encountering regular visits with Aunt Georgia to listen to her whine about her doctor's appointments. So, to avoid this I have to start getting ready for a future as an employed college graduate!

Right now I'm looking at interning at the State Department, to my horror, a few days ago the USAJOBS website with the application was down for an entire week! I thought the digital age was supposed to be more helpful, but I guess I should have foreseen problems like website reconstruction that could delay my access to arguably one of the most important applications I will fill out in my college years! It's due November 1st so I have a solid week to fill it out, email to my Dad and others who have worked there in the past to make sure it's exactly what they want.
My Dad worked in government facilities as well and he has told me how much easier it is for me that I can instantly access and fill out applications, whereas when he was starting out in the 1980's, everything was paper copy and it took so much more time (not to mention, so much more anticipation) to figure out where he got hired. My friends have also been sending me links to other places they have interned and are willing to write and forward their old employers letters of recommendation for me. I find it fascinating how quickly networking is today, and hope it can work to my advantage!