Thursday, January 29, 2009
On Politics and Kids
So, here's my things:
1. I like politics,
2. I like young people, especially kids,
3. I like being outside.
I can think of ways to mix 2 out of 3, but ultimately, I think one of the three will have to take a hit in terms of what you can practically combine into a career.
So, let's say that I want to work on getting young people more involved in politics and human rights issues.* And you know, go camping on weekends.** What do you study in order to do that? Political Science? Public Policy? Social Work with a focus on Youth? Education? ...what?
I like the idea of going back to school because (a) the economy is crap anyway so finding a job is frustrating, (b) I can still get a scholarship from Cornell if I go back to (any) school soon, (c) I think figuring this sort of stuff out involves a lot of research, and nobody researches better than a university.
And then, of course, what do you then do with this additional degree? Work...at a school? For a political campaign? Some office that does stuff for youth but never actually interacts with them, other than by spamming their inboxes? Start your own organization?
Hmm. Sometimes the world is just so big.
*This doesn't mean just the 18 & over voting age crowd. You can work on human rights and political issues at any age through writing letters, lobbying, just learning about them, etc. Don't let voting hold you back, kids!
**Ooor, be a girl scout leader, because I love the girl scouts and could totes work with young kids then. And my troop would be bad ass, so we could camp and hike.
1. I like politics,
2. I like young people, especially kids,
3. I like being outside.
I can think of ways to mix 2 out of 3, but ultimately, I think one of the three will have to take a hit in terms of what you can practically combine into a career.
So, let's say that I want to work on getting young people more involved in politics and human rights issues.* And you know, go camping on weekends.** What do you study in order to do that? Political Science? Public Policy? Social Work with a focus on Youth? Education? ...what?
I like the idea of going back to school because (a) the economy is crap anyway so finding a job is frustrating, (b) I can still get a scholarship from Cornell if I go back to (any) school soon, (c) I think figuring this sort of stuff out involves a lot of research, and nobody researches better than a university.
And then, of course, what do you then do with this additional degree? Work...at a school? For a political campaign? Some office that does stuff for youth but never actually interacts with them, other than by spamming their inboxes? Start your own organization?
Hmm. Sometimes the world is just so big.
*This doesn't mean just the 18 & over voting age crowd. You can work on human rights and political issues at any age through writing letters, lobbying, just learning about them, etc. Don't let voting hold you back, kids!
**Ooor, be a girl scout leader, because I love the girl scouts and could totes work with young kids then. And my troop would be bad ass, so we could camp and hike.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Back Again
It's snowing in DC. I'm staring out my 4th floor window watching it accumulate on the roof of Robert Kennedy's old church. Wonders never cease.
I haven't updated this, really, in over a month, which is too bad. It's been a busy month. I celebrated the sickest (literally) and most pathetic Christmas with my family to date. I rang in the New Year in New York, my 23rd birthday in Ireland, and the dawn of a new era in Washington, D.C. But more on all of that later.
I'm back in DC now, and experiencing something unexpected: unemployment. Oops. I moved down here to take a non-profit job, fighting the good fight for $24,000. As it turns out it really wasn't the job I thought I was being hired for. I'll spare the gory details here, but the highlights include a required 80 to 100 hour work week, being in the office 6 or (preferably) 7 days a week (how else do you work 100 hours a week?), and going door to door, alone, in the dark, everyday in random areas of VA and MD.
...
I don't think it's unreasonable to not want to do these things, especially for a salary that would be equivalent to making $5 or $6 per hour.
So back to square one. I have a couple interviews lined up, and we'll see what comes. Right now, I'm going to go take pictures of the Welcome to Washington snow. Maybe the Obama girls will be outside building snowmen.
I haven't updated this, really, in over a month, which is too bad. It's been a busy month. I celebrated the sickest (literally) and most pathetic Christmas with my family to date. I rang in the New Year in New York, my 23rd birthday in Ireland, and the dawn of a new era in Washington, D.C. But more on all of that later.
I'm back in DC now, and experiencing something unexpected: unemployment. Oops. I moved down here to take a non-profit job, fighting the good fight for $24,000. As it turns out it really wasn't the job I thought I was being hired for. I'll spare the gory details here, but the highlights include a required 80 to 100 hour work week, being in the office 6 or (preferably) 7 days a week (how else do you work 100 hours a week?), and going door to door, alone, in the dark, everyday in random areas of VA and MD.
...
I don't think it's unreasonable to not want to do these things, especially for a salary that would be equivalent to making $5 or $6 per hour.
So back to square one. I have a couple interviews lined up, and we'll see what comes. Right now, I'm going to go take pictures of the Welcome to Washington snow. Maybe the Obama girls will be outside building snowmen.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
We'll take a cup of kindness yet for Auld Lang Syne...
I haven't posted in nearly a month. Poor form. I won't review everything I've done over the last few weeks, because that would be long and boring for most people. Just suffice to say my holiday was probably a lot like your holiday, unless, of course, you don't celebrate holidays, in which case you probably had an awesome time catching up on all those old episodes of House.
I rang in 2009 by clinking glasses with a bunch of Upstate New Yorkers in a cozy apartment in Astoria. I feel like my New Year's festivities ended up being really symbolic of my year as a whole. I managed to spend New Year's Eve in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, mostly with my backpack on. It was highly nomadic which, if you've been following along, just fits. Also, I managed in one month (and mostly in the 3 to 4 days leading up to midnight '09) to see every single one of my best friends from high school, college (minus Kathleen, geez!) and best of all, kindergarten. I've been particularly privileged this year to build a lot of new friendships, and to those people I'm very thankful. But I'm also truly thankful for the friendships from home and almost-home that I have had for 5 years, ten years, some for over 15 years. A lot of the people I call my best friends now are the same best friends I had in elementary school. If you want a way to stay grounded, that's it. So yes, New Year's was freezing cold and it involved sleeping on floors and a bit too much Carson Daly, but it was a fitting end to an amazing year.
New Year's 2009 made me laugh, mostly because it was so different from NYE '08. If we could step in the Way Back Machine for a moment, let's take a step back to 2007. What a God awful year. Friends moved, loved ones passed away, people cheated, money disappeared, diagnoses were made, Bush was still president with little end in sight, and all of it was an utter, rotting pile of crap. Of my close friends, I can only think of one or two people that didn't experience something life-changing and fantastically depressing. In the days leading up to January 1, "good riddance" and "f*ck 2007" were probably the words I heard most often. I spent New Year's Eve skiing with Austin and going to a big bonfire downtown. At the end of the countdown we both looked at each other, said "Well...thank God that's over," and then went to Ernest's house to eat flan.
True, my first meal of 2008 was flan, but I didn't let that get me down. Fast forward 12 months, and here I am in a little apartment in Queens, toasting with friends and feeling a little remorseful because - I admit it - I wasn't totally down with 2008 ending. Personally, I had wonderful year, complete with major accomplishments, travel, and much time spent with friends and family. I laughed a lot in 2008. I had a lot of odd jobs, and I said yes more often, which is always an adventure. So I'll be honest: I was sad to see it go. But hey - what a fabulous turnaround, 2008. What a great hope for the future.
A new government's coming in, a fresh slew of New Year's Resolutions are already being forgotten, and to date, no one has tricked me into eating flan this year. Hopefully the trend continues. Have a happier, healthier 2009. Nobody deserves it more than you.
I rang in 2009 by clinking glasses with a bunch of Upstate New Yorkers in a cozy apartment in Astoria. I feel like my New Year's festivities ended up being really symbolic of my year as a whole. I managed to spend New Year's Eve in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, mostly with my backpack on. It was highly nomadic which, if you've been following along, just fits. Also, I managed in one month (and mostly in the 3 to 4 days leading up to midnight '09) to see every single one of my best friends from high school, college (minus Kathleen, geez!) and best of all, kindergarten. I've been particularly privileged this year to build a lot of new friendships, and to those people I'm very thankful. But I'm also truly thankful for the friendships from home and almost-home that I have had for 5 years, ten years, some for over 15 years. A lot of the people I call my best friends now are the same best friends I had in elementary school. If you want a way to stay grounded, that's it. So yes, New Year's was freezing cold and it involved sleeping on floors and a bit too much Carson Daly, but it was a fitting end to an amazing year.
New Year's 2009 made me laugh, mostly because it was so different from NYE '08. If we could step in the Way Back Machine for a moment, let's take a step back to 2007. What a God awful year. Friends moved, loved ones passed away, people cheated, money disappeared, diagnoses were made, Bush was still president with little end in sight, and all of it was an utter, rotting pile of crap. Of my close friends, I can only think of one or two people that didn't experience something life-changing and fantastically depressing. In the days leading up to January 1, "good riddance" and "f*ck 2007" were probably the words I heard most often. I spent New Year's Eve skiing with Austin and going to a big bonfire downtown. At the end of the countdown we both looked at each other, said "Well...thank God that's over," and then went to Ernest's house to eat flan.
True, my first meal of 2008 was flan, but I didn't let that get me down. Fast forward 12 months, and here I am in a little apartment in Queens, toasting with friends and feeling a little remorseful because - I admit it - I wasn't totally down with 2008 ending. Personally, I had wonderful year, complete with major accomplishments, travel, and much time spent with friends and family. I laughed a lot in 2008. I had a lot of odd jobs, and I said yes more often, which is always an adventure. So I'll be honest: I was sad to see it go. But hey - what a fabulous turnaround, 2008. What a great hope for the future.
A new government's coming in, a fresh slew of New Year's Resolutions are already being forgotten, and to date, no one has tricked me into eating flan this year. Hopefully the trend continues. Have a happier, healthier 2009. Nobody deserves it more than you.
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