For this month’s blog posting, I decided to attend the IA + Ohio Latino Affairs Commission Meet & Greet with Lilly Cavanaugh. during this meet and greet, Lilly Cavanaugh, who is the executive director of the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, talked a little bit about what exactly the commission does and the history of the commission in Ohio. As an overview, Mrs. Cavanuagh described how the OLAC works with a variety of different people from all over Latin America and describes how Latin America features a diverse group of communities, not just people who speak Spanish. She also talked about how the commission has three main objectives: to help Latino communities with civic engagement, advocate on behalf of Latinos in the state of Ohio, and help teach Latinos to better assimilate into America without losing touch with their heritage and culture. The zoom event also featured some question and answer panels from students, many of whom were interested in what exactly they can do to help with OLAC. In the end, I was very happy that I decided to come to this event as it showed me an aspect of state government that I had no idea existed.

For this month’s IA Second Year blog Posts, I decided to attend the OSU Votes Service Events, titled Young People in Politics. The event was brought to us by the office of student life and it encourages students to go out and vote in elections, both local and general. The event talked about the different generations in the United States, and the way that they vote. In general, younger people and generations do not vote as much as older people and their generations, which can disproportionally effect the outcome of a number of races and elections. However, the 2020 election saw a huge increase in the number of young people vote, and many think this was a main reason why Joe Biden was able to win the election. Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation by OSU Votes, as I think it is extremely important for young people to let their voices be heard in the political landscape. I really liked how the presentation made sure students understood not only why it is important to vote, but gave them resources to be able to vote in the future. In the end, I really enjoyed my time watching this presentation.

For my fourth blog post, I decided to attend the current events catchup hosted by Tyler Cummin, where we talked about numerous news stories that were relevant to us right now. The news stories included the developments in Ukraine and the buildup of troops along the eastern border, and how many believed that Russia was planning on invading the country; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scandal with Partygate, and how many people believed that he should be removed from his position as Prime Minister; North Korea with its continuing missile tests, and how many believe that relations have worsened between the US and the country; unrest in Kazakhstan, which has led to dozens of deaths; and some of the most defining moments in President Biden’s first year in office. Overall, I thought that the presentation was very well put together and had a lot of interesting stories, some of which I did not know were going on in the world. I really enjoyed the wide diversity in the stories as well, as they did not just focus on one area of the globe.

For this month’s current events blog post, I decided to attend an event sponsored by the John Glenn College of Public Affairs regarding WAIP, or the Washington Academic Internship Program. During the lecture, former students who have completed the internship talked about their experience in Washington DC and talked about some of the places that they interned. I really enjoyed listening to these students speak, as I myself am actively considering participating in the program. The organizers also talked about the specifics of the program, such as how much it would cost, how long you would be staying in DC, where you would be staying, where you would be interning at, and how you would be able to manage school work during the trip. One thing that I learned at the event was the importance of networking, especially in my major, and how important it is for students to get an internship at a place where they might work at afterward. Overall, I am very glad I attended the event and am looking forward to learning more about WAIP.

For my October IA Event, I decided to go to the Global Engagement Night through the Office of International Affairs. Every Tuesday, the office highlights a different country or culture and features a variety of different foods, drinks, music, etc from that culture. For the event I went to, the club highlighted the country of Germany, something that I found very interesting! One of the more interesting topics discussed was the linguistic differences that regions of Germany have. I never really thought about the idea of Germany having different accents, as I kind of just figured it all sounded the same. The meeting highlighted the three different regions and accents, and then talked about some of the street art found in Berlin. One of my favorite movies of all time is the remake of Suspiria (2018), which takes place in Berlin during the height of the Cold War. I found it very interesting how much the Cold War and the Berlin Wall impacted German society as a whole! Overall, I really enjoyed my time at the Global Engagement Night. That was the first one that I have been to, and I will definitely be going back to more meetings in the future!

For my September IA event, I attended the discussion presented by the Mershon Center at Ohio State titled: “Is The Two-State Solution Dead?”, presented by Ohio State history Professor Peter Hahn. Overall, I really enjoyed the discussion! I am currently enrolled in a Politics of the Middle East class, so I am somewhat familiar with the Two-State Solution between Israel and Palestine. However, this discussion really made light to some of the modern and recent developments between the prospective solution. During the beginning of the discussion, Professor Hahn laid a brief overview of the history between Israeli Jews and Arab Palestinians. Beginning with the Balfour Agreement by the British in 1917, the UNSCOP (UN Special Committee on Palestine), and the foundation of the State of Israel in 1949, the Two-State Solution (TSS) has always been a topic of discussion and contention between the Palestinians and Israelis. The most recent attempt at a TSS was in the early 2000s, but not much of an attempt has been made since. For the remaining half hour, people were able to ask questions with Professor Hahn, and I was one of them! I asked, ” If a TSS were enacted, what would happen to the 2+ million Palestinian refugees currently in Jordan?” Professor Hahn responded by saying that they would most likely have to consult with the Palestinian government and would relocate to the Palestinian state. Overall, I am very happy that I went to this event and was able to ask my question!

For my second IA Response for 2021, I decided to attend the Service Spotlight about the Buckeye Food Alliance. During the event, Nick Fowler from the Buckeye Food Alliance talked to us about what exactly he does, and what the Office of Student Life does for Ohio State Students. During his presentation, Nick talked about the No Buckeye Goes Hungry Vision, a student-run non-profit food pantry run through the Buckeye Food Alliance. The main goals of the program are to serve the 9000+ Ohio State students that struggle with food insecurity, provide students to free and healthy food options, and raise awareness of the food insecurity problems that students struggle with on campus. Nick then talked about what exactly food insecurity is, and how it is such a big problem in the Ohio State community. Personally, I decided to attend this event because I never really understood just how big of a problem food insecurity is on campus here at Ohio State. Some of the facts presented really shocked me, as I learned that 41% of college students at a four-year institution will experience food insecurity at one point. This event was really eye-opening and really changed the way I think about food insecurity on college campuses. Overall, this event was really beneficial for me as it taught me about some great resources to combat and end food insecurity at Ohio State once and for all.

For the first response of 2021, I decided to attend the Current Events Night hosted by Samantha Zimmerman. During the event, we played a Kahoot game where the questions talked about some current events happening from around the globe. The first topic covered was the coup in Myanmar and the internet shutdown, Russia expelling European diplomats, the Vale Dam breaking in Brazil, the bushfires happening in Perth, Australia, a bomb plot that was thwarted in France, and the United States adding about 50,000 new jobs to the economy in January. Personally, I found the stories about Russia expelling European Diplomats and the story about the bomb plot in France as the most interesting. Russia expelled three diplomats from Germany, Sweeden, and Poland due to them joining protests in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. I find the current state of politics happening in Russia fascinating, and I think that this story just shows how democracy has slowly been sliding in the country ever since Putin came to power. Second, I found the story about the bomb plot in France really interesting because it almost sounded like the plot of an international thriller movie. An Iranian diplomat was convicted of plotting to bomb a rally in France for an exiled opposition group. He worked in an embassy in Vienna and was arrested in Brussels after being surveilled by local intelligence. I really liked all of the stories covered tonight, but I found this one to be the most exciting!

For my sixth response, I decided to attend the Current Events Cath Up and Kahoot with Sam Zimmerman. For this Kahoot, we talked about the massive hurricanes that have hit Latin America, Diwali Celebrations, the Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan Agreement, Turkmenistan’s Golden Dog, the Sudan Coup, and how Unemployment rates continue to shrink but are still high. Personally, I thought that Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan Agreement and the Hurricanes that have hit Latin America were the most interesting stories that were covered. For the Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan Agreement, Sam talked about how the Prime Minister of Armenia signed an agreement with Russia and Azerbaijan to end a war over disputed areas that have caused months of armed conflict. Second, I thought that the hurricanes that have hit Latin America were particularly interesting because it directly relates to climate changes and global warming – issues that I am very passionate about. Hurricane Iota is expected to hit Honduras and Nicaragua in the coming days, and these two countries were already affected by hurricane Eta, which killed two hundred people over the last couple of weeks. In the end, this zoom call and Kahoot really helped me put things into perspective, as it showed me how things can be so much worse in the world.

For my fifth webinar, I decided to attend the GoinGlobal Information Session, where we discussed the prospects of studying abroad and finding jobs abroad. Personally, whenever I thought about a future job, I always wanted to live in another country or have a job overseas. I decided to attend this event because I always wanted to see how easy or accessible it was to actually achieve my goal of studying abroad and having a job in another country. In the Zoom call, I found out that there were Country Career Guides, Global Career Guides, and US City Career Guides, and that the information in these pages were updated once a day, so they were up to date. The Zoom also featured how to update your own resume and cover letter and how to polish it up to look more professional. The webinar also focused on the pre-interview preparation, the interview conduct, and the rules to follow during the actual interview. Not only this but on the Zoom, it also talked about if you do get the opportunity to live in another country, it gives advice and cultural rules to follow. Overall, I thought this Zoom session was very informative and interesting to follow as I continue to strive towards a career in another country.