On April 13th, I attended the event “Diversity in International Public Service: Explore the Possibilities”. I’ve always been interested in being more involved globally and this session specifically touched on those possibilities. First, the peace corps representative spoke on how their program allows the volunteers and communities to learn from each other and work together. The Fulbright Program allows students to spend 9-12 months teaching English, studying, and or doing independent research. These actions allow cultural exchanges to take place as the grantees act as cultural ambassadors for the United States. The Pickering and Rangel and Payne Fellowships were also super enticing as they allow students to do hands-on work in other countries. I really enjoyed listening to and was inspired by the personal testimonies of individuals who did these programs, such as Fullbrighters teaching creative reading, writing, starting up a school library, and creating a creative arts club. I’ll definitely keep these programs in mind futuristically when considering global public work experiences. These programs directly relate to international affairs as they have to do with bettering the lives and experiences of individuals globally. Moreover, I believe that their practices, such as putting on college and career expos and working on professional development, create a domino effect; inciting positive experiences in communities allows others to flourish and learn from them as well. Overall, I’m really glad I attended this meeting as it was incredibly inspiring and informative.

On the 25th of October I attended the current events catch up program for IA. While the segments on endangered species, brutality in France, and social distancing was incredibly educational, I was particularly interested in the segment regarding the #EndSARS movement. The movement in Nigeria, largely pioneered by college students, specifically targets police brutality and more broadly a hostile and unfair regime. I believe this issue closely parallels current US sentiments. Newer generations increase with progressiveness and in turn current college students, like myself, have become much more radicalized; for instance, I have attended black lives matter protests which I guess are also considered anti-police brutality. College students also increasingly see issues with our current government, specifically the current GOP, which has led to a massive rise in voter turnout among younger voters. Our issues with the GOP’s inherently racist, sexist, transphobic, xenophobic, homophobic, and islamophobic rhetoric and policies have really driven our generation’s activism increase. I found it really interesting to see a similar uprising on a generational and issue based level in a different place at the same time. It’ll be interesting to see how those efforts in Nigeria turn out and how election day plays apart in our nation’s issues with police brutality and government incompetence. 

On September 28th, I attended the “Lectures in Musicology: Alex E. Chavez – Verses and Flows: Migrant Lives and the Sounds of Crossing” in the Academic section of International Affairs Scholars Events.” I chose this event because it seemed out of my comfort zone as I know little to nothing about musicology and even less about how it intertwines with migrant lives. While I honestly understood little of what Alex spoke about in terms of music technicalities and the specific Latino Studies they correlated with, the seminar was still incredibly valuable to me as I got to hear how professionals interpret music and poetry, something I don’t get to experience often in my business and public policy classes. More importantly, this seminar enlightened me as to how culture and music relate, something I don’t consider often; while I simply heard him speaking Spanish poetry, I knew for him it translated deeply into culture he values. Dissimilarly, the music was more folksy and lighter than what I tend to listen to which I liked a lot more than I initially thought. Additionally, listening to the spoken Spanish poetry, though I didn’t understand it, was relaxing and hearing him interpret it made me appreciate it more. This event related to International Affairs as it discussed the lyricism (poetry, lyrics) of another culture and how it tied into their deeper cultural ties.

On April 9th, I listened to Sam Stelnnicki speak on current headlines in the news. This was super fun for me as I miss her doing the same thing in my scholars seminar. The mini quiz at the beginning was fun as watching BBC World News with my mom every night finally paid off. Something I thought was very interesting was Putin’s response to the pandemic. Despite a lower number of cases, he essentially cancelled the referendum that would dictate his leadership, essentially cementing his position of power indefinitely. This was politically smart but stripped democracy from the government. There was also a prepared ban on same sex marriage which I find to be a disgusting violaiton of human rights but I guess is not so surprising in a place where a referendum is cancelled entirely. Additionally, I found the UN call to release prisoners to be released conditionally due to COVID-19 concerns is interesting. In my opinion, it brings new light to the Death Penalty debate as it asks if prisoners deserve to die (stay in infected prisons) or be propped up by tax payer money. While some measures are being taken, such as visitors not being allowed, it’s questionable whether or not leaving susceptible prisoners in prison is arguably the same as giving them a death sentence.

On April 22nd, I listened in on the “International Perspectives on the Coronavirus Pandemic” zoom call with fellow International Affairs Scholars and worldwide students. It was comforting to hear that students around the world are struggling to adjust to online work and that professors worldwide have been slow to adjust to digital learning. Personally, I have had more trouble adjusting to the loss of college social life rather than the academic change. Being stuck at home without going out with my friends, interacting with people in my classes, and even exchanging niceties with people as I pass them on the oval has really taken a toll on my mental health. I’m able to channel some of my energy into my studies but I wish I had as many opportunities at home as I had at school. I gained some hope from this video as students said that their countries, such as Germany, spoke about shops and universities beginning to reopen. I am slightly worried about places reopening when the virus numbers go down because with less social distancing the numbers will go right back up and we will all be right back in quarantine. This event was interesting to me as watching the news and full grown adults speaking about the pandemic in strictly statistics is a lot less engaging and relatable than listening to students my age speak about their experiences.

I attended “Food Insecurity and Mental Health: An Underexplored Global Health Concern” on February 2nd, fulfilling the Academic requirement of IA. Barbara Piperata, an associate professor of Anthropology at Ohio State, gave the presentation; she performed research in Nicaragua and the Brazilian Amazon on food insecurity/security, lactation, and how these affect socioeconomic and cultural notions. Though when first thinking about food insecurity I think of physical harms such as being malnourished, I was astonished when she spoke on the high correlation between food security, anxiety, and depression. Mothers feel that their role in the household isn’t being filled and that in turn they are failing their children. She furthered that women are embarrassed by this, as they feel like they aren’t doing their jobs, and thus don’t reach out to others for help. This starts a trap in which women and their families enter the zone of food insecurity yet cannot lift themselves out because they don’t want to tell anyone about their issue. This topic literally and metaphorically hit home when she spoke on how food insecurity affected Ohioans. In Ohio I was shocked to hear that 14.5% of people experience food insecurity, which amounts to 1 in 4 children. In Franklin County alone, 16.5% of people experience food insecurity. She explained that this leads to a rise in mental and physical health issues throughout Ohio. Overall, while this topic is morose and depressing, it showed me issues in my community I wasn’t aware of and can help alleviate with outreach. 

On January 16th, I attended “A Day in the Life of a Harvard Law Student” which fulfills the Professional Development category of IA requirements. At the meeting, Samantha Harris depicted her experiences so far at Harvard Law School. I found this event to be particularly interesting because she didn’t just speak on classes and studying, but also how her school affects her outside life. She first spoke about how mental health, especially during heavy course loads, is imperative; she bought a St. Bernard just to keep herself from fussing over her life too much. She then branched into substance abuse and how there’s a lot of pressure to drink in law school. Around 76% of lawyers develop a substance abuse problem, a statistic that is rooted in stress and networking events. She explains that Harvard rents out bars and has free bottle service at events so that companies can come drink and network with the students; with that, she said that there’s immense pressure to drink to fit in with the corporate employees. Outside of her social life, she said that law school differs from undergraduate education because the workload and terminology are vastly different; she said it’s like reading books in a language that you learn as you read. Moreover, she said that professors always cold call and some knock your grade if you misspeak a few times. Overall, I learned that while the workload in law school is heavier and different than every other subject, I learned that one’s personal calendar, including self care and a social life, are just as affected as one’s intelligence. 

I attended a meeting where Micheal States, the Assistant Dean of Admissions at the Moritz College of Law, spoke on law school. This event took place on November 20th and fills the academic category for International Affairs. Micheal began by sharing what Moritz has to offer, including numerous clinics that teach skills such as mediation, which is a vital skill for lawyers to have as mediation is imperative in keeping cases from going to court. I also learned that they offer courses ranging from Food and Drug law to War Crimes Law; alongside from their unique course offerings, Moritz is unique in that other than in one’s first year, which is a set curriculum, students pick their own curriculum. Aside from simply law school course information, Michael offered tips on applying to Moritz. Specifically, finding a professor who can speak to your growth throughout college, keeping your GPA up as they have competitive admissions, not worrying about taking the LSAT a few times to get a higher score, and utilizing the extra and “not required” essays to provide more insight on oneself outside of their resume. On the point of GPA, he explained that no major makes Moritz look more favorably upon a candidate and that they don’t take into account the difficulty of one’s major when evaluating their GPA. Summatively, as someone interested in law school, this information session was incredibly helpful and insightful into law school as a whole and specifics regarding Moritz. 

On October 29th, I participated in a mock interview fulfilling the Professional Development category for International Affairs. First off, my interviewer taught me to use the STAR technique to answer behavioral questions in interviews. The approach has one describe the situation, the task at hand, the action they took, and the result from it; bonus points for tying the lessons learned and or techniques used into future applications. Moreover, when answering the usual first statement of “tell me about yourself” I learned a few skills; first, explaining my passions outside of the job, how those interests tie into the job and lastly, how my personality and education would assist me in the position I am applying for. Additionally, the importance of preparing questions for the end of the interview was stressed. Specifically, questions insinuating I believe that the interview went well, such as what the next steps are or asking for more details about the position. Moreover, the questions can be made into leading ones that allude into specific skills or attributes I have that I had not mentioned in the interview already. In terms of weaknesses, I realized I tend to talk quite fast, especially in high stress situations like interviews, which is fixable with practice. Overall, this was super beneficial in so far as I learned a few techniques and pointers that will improve my skills in answering and asking questions, and how I poise myself when doing so.

I attended a Global Engagement Night about Indigenous People’s Day, fulfilling the campus category, on October 15th. The event began by asking us to reflect on how America views Columbus Day, with most of us saying our elementary schools celebrated it as the day America was discovered. The program first depicted the timeline of Columbus’ journey, but elaborated that his arrival did not signify the discovery of America, as millions already inhabited it. Italian Americans first urged for the celebration of Columbus Day, as Columbus was Italian, to regain honor in America in times of xenophobia. In the status quo however, Columbus Day creates lots of controversy as the arrival of Europeans to America brought violence, disease, and oppression into the already established communities of Native Americans. In turn, in the last decade, states have increasingly begun recognizing Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day to recognize the Native Americans who inhabited the land first, which ties into the struggles they faced, their contributions to America, and a testament to these efforts to not allow for the erasure of the Native American population. I believe that recognizing those who actually first cultivated land in America, developed trade systems, and created political systems here ought to be celebrated over a man who trampled on these creations; in turn, I feel that Indigenous People’s Day ought to be recognized as a national holiday. Moreover, I see no point in romanticizing/glamorizing Columbus Day in schools, and believe schools should teach students the real, not whitewashed, version of Columbus’ journey, and how it ties into the rich history of Native American culture.