International Affairs Scholars has done a great deal to promote my Global Awareness in combination with my major. I study global events including terrorist attacks and how our governments’ devisions affect the globe for my classes and I discuss these kinds of topics in our scholars meetings. I also feel like I have such a grip on these topics that I have done my own research on them and taken the initiative to apply to the Intelligence Community, scholarships, and internships relevant to these topics as well. These additions have led to the enrichment of my education and a broadening of my thoughts. I have pursued and landed a position in a law firm which has helped me develop as a person. I have also engaged in some service events with IA but I should do more. Overall, Scholars had led me to be a more well-rounded individual and has helped to supplement my education.
Career Decision Time
Now is the time that I need to nail down what I am doing after I graduate. I am very interested in going to law school, but my heart lies with the Intelligence Community. I would love to go into international law in the JAG wing of the Air Force but I would love for that experience to transfer to making connections in the Intelligence Community and eventually lead to a job there. However, I have started both the process of studying for the LSAT and applying to the CIA and other government agencies. I want many choices and opportunities by the time I graduate so that I’m not stuck doing a job I am unhappy in or is irrelevant to my future goals. Overall, I am excited for what the future holds for me.
Wrapping Up
It is almost the end of my second year at The Ohio State University. I am no longer studying Swahili, but I still have the same major and minors. I am working two jobs, one at the OSU Call Center and the other is an internship at a law firm. I am excited for the opportunities the internship will open up for me when applying to law schools. I have also started the process of applying to the CIA and other government agencies in the hope to get my foot in the door of the Intelligence Community. I have really had to make this year count because I am graduating early. Involvement and resume-building have been two of my biggest priorities of the year and I’m hoping my hard work will eventually pay off. I am also done with Scholars and am very grateful for all of the connections I have made in the program.
Only One More Year
This year has been a challenge for me, as I am graduating in the Spring of 2018. I have been juggling two jobs, classwork, and International Affairs Scholars, while maintaining friendships and making new ones.
I work at The Ohio State University Call Center, calling alumni, parents, and other donors to donate to our university. I have personally fundraised almost $19,000 dollars in the past year. I have made many friends while working at the Call Center, but I am excited to move my focus towards more relevant job opportunities.
In February I was lucky enough to land an internship at a default litigation firm called Manley Deas and Kockalski, LLC. I decided to pursue a job in a law firm because I will be attending law school after I graduate from OSU. I have the chance to get behind the scenes and learn how the process of law works and how involved the process actually is. I communicate with clients through databases and prepare documents for judgment in court. I also prepare military affidavits after making sure the defaulter has not been an active-duty service member within the past 12 months. I plan on going into international law after law school or into the Intelligence Community, but this internship is definitely a stepping stone to getting there.
Since I am graduating at the end of next year, I have been researching law schools and applying to internships and other positions in the Intelligence Community so that I will have a few options on what to do after graduation. I have a lot of pressure to get a 4.0 GPA while staying involved and working my two jobs, and I have a fair shot at it this semester. I have had a very productive year and I am excited for next year and what is to come in my future.
Geography Infographic
This infographic may not look like much, but it is the culmination of hours of work and many revisions. My last general education course is a geography class which is much different than I believed it would be. It has involved a lot of group work and I have had to learn map making software. It is a really interesting class, and for one of our projects we had to make an infographic as a presentation tool-which no one in my group had done before. I decided I would be the one to make the infographic. The group kept changing what our main topic would be and what sort of graphs would best demonstrate our research. This is the fifth final version of the infographic I made. The project was about the use of Ohio’s energy, what energy bills are composed of, and how Ohio compares to the rest of the country in those respects and it turns out we are very average.
Spanish Digital Project
This digital project for my Spanish Literature course has been one of the most challenging assignments I have done so far in college. Our assignment was to create a youtube-quality video, with us speaking a script previously approved by our professor, and to convey the theme of our work through a background song and the pictures in the video. This was challenging for me for many different reasons. Firstly because I am not the greatest Spanish-speaker even though I am almost done with my minor in it. I am much better at writing in Spanish than speaking it. Secondly it was challenging because my script took me over the allotted time so major adjustments had to be made. Thirdly, because I had never really created a video before, and you can tell by the quality of it, but this video is hours worth of hard work and frustration. I am pleased with the outcome of the video, but overall I am happy by how much this assignment challenged me and pushed me to learn more about myself and learn more about technology.
A Career in the Making
I am very interested in pursuing a job with the FBI or CIA after I get a graduate degree, but in the meantime I am trying to do everything I can to set myself apart from my competition. For my Second-Year project, I am doing a research paper under a leading political scientist on the declining global hegemony of the United States. I am also applying for internships left and right so I can build my professional resume and acumen. I have interviews coming up for a position at the State Senate and at a large law firm, both of which I would be ecstatic about getting a job at. All of my classes now pertain to my major and are furthering my interest in working for the government later on in my life. I am very excited for what the future has in store.
Global Criminology OpEd
This OpEd is a very powerful piece for me. It depicts the definition and common misunderstanding of the term “child soldiers.” It explains how a child soldier is any boy or girl, who is used by an armed group for any purpose, but it makes one believe that a child soldier is only one thing: a combatant. I very much enjoyed my Global Criminology because it made me realize that small differences in the meanings of words like shown with child soldiers, can not only get confusing to lay people, but it can actually harm people and make it difficult to enforce international law. I find little differences like these very interesting, which is a good thing because in my future career I would love to work with issues such as these to make a real difference.
Final Spanish Composition Project
Spanish Composition-Final Project
This PowerPoint shows an entire semester’s uphill battle. The Spanish language has always been a struggle for me, a challenge, where I have to dedicate twice as much time working on and studying for than I do for other classes. I also had a very difficult professor this semester for my Spanish Composition course, the head of the Spanish Department in fact. The compositions featured in this work are a progression of my writing, and are the final drafts of all my works. I spent countless hours working on perfecting these compositions and I am extremely proud of them. The only tools we were allowed when writing them were our pencils and Spanish dictionaries. This class was a triumph for me because I did much better than I ever imagined I would, and for that I feel very accomplished.
G.O.A.L.S.
I became interested in becoming an International Affairs Scholar because my sister was in the program her freshmen and sophomore years as well. I had heard great things from her and she had made many of her best friends through the program. I was also drawn to the fact that it was a living community, so that I would really be able to bond with people who are also very interested in the world around them. I, like my sister before me, made many friends and have made connections that will hopefully last a lifetime. Since I am involved in this community of people who are well-educated in the ways of the world, I have been able to have in-depth and meaningful conversations about important current events like the horrors happening in Aleppo and the 2016 Presidential election. I feel challenged in the way that I am pushed to further-educate myself to keep up with my peers, and I thoroughly enjoy that. I feel that it takes a very well-rounded person to be a Scholar at Ohio State because we have to manage our studies and manage the requirements of the program, while actively engaging in other clubs and maintaining our health and friendships. Being a scholar has made me realize that I can do all of these things and still have time for myself and applying for scholarships and internships. Overall, I believe that being an International Affairs Scholar has made me mature in a very good way.