Global Seminars are seminar courses organized by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies in locations around the world where Princeton students are given the opportunity to explore an aspect of life in that region.

College awareness is an issue that has interested me since my senior year of high school. I still clearly remember all the difficulties and confusion I endured during the college application process. At the time, my high school didn’t have the resources or knowledge to prepare students to apply to out-of-state universities, much less Princeton. Shifting through copious amounts of often contradictory information on the internet took months of research to accomplish. I had no mentor but myself, unless the internet counts as a mentor.

Somehow I survived, and now I’m on the other side of the college application gap. But I haven’t allowed my status as a college student to make me complacent.

This past summer was the second time I hosted the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo College, Scholarship, Leadership Awareness Program (PSJA CSLAP) for my hometown’s school district. It’s a summer program that offers workshops, information sessions, and test preparation for rising seniors. Three fellow PSJA alumni and I run this program so we can build mentor relationships with the students and help guide them through the application process.

One of our most memorable events was the “PSJA Alumni College Fair” in which 12 alumni from my high school represented their universities and spoke to the students about their college experiences. This event in particular stood out to me because of how amazing the atmosphere felt. I could tell that not only did the students truly enjoy this opportunity, but the alumni did as well.

After PSJA CSLAP concluded for the summer, my college awareness work continued well into the fall. In September, I had the opportunity to represent Princeton at McAllen Independent School District’s College and Career Night. Alongside John Millin, a Princeton 1995 graduate and chairman of the Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee for the Rio Grande Valley, I spoke with hundreds of parents and students about Princeton. In early October, I held an hour-long question and answer session as a part of College Greenlight’s Diversity + Digital College Fair. These two events allowed me to branch out of the familiarity of my school district and reach students from different backgrounds around the country.

One of the most rewarding aspects of college awareness work is learning about the amazing stories behind each student. I don't remember being half as ambitious or intelligent as some of the students I've mentored. It gives me peace of mind knowing that I can give them the resources and knowledge I didn't have at their age so they can achieve even greater things. My ultimate goal is for this spirit of altruism to rub off on them so they, too, can mentor the next generation of students.

If young people really have the potential to change the world, then why shouldn't we help the next in line get a step ahead? If more college students would undertake college awareness work, whether through spreading crucial information or offering mentorship, without expecting anything in return, this spirit of altruism would never die.

Life is starting to settle back into routine here at Princeton, and I am finally beginning to readjust after my recent semester abroad.

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog (shout out to my mom!) know that I'm a member of Quipfire!, Princeton's oldest improv comedy group. And believe it or not, my interest in comedy carries over into the summer. So this summer, while other students worked in finance, engineering, web development, etc., I worked in the highly profitable field of improv!

Kidding, kidding. Everyone knows we improvisers are destined to live as struggling artists, forever haunting late-night comedy clubs in pursuit of a few bucks and those ever-elusive laughs. But the hardship associated with life as an improviser doesn't mean I didn't love love LOVE my summer internship with the musical improv group Baby Wants Candy.

I met Baby Wants Candy at Princeton. They performed in McCarter Theater during my freshman year and offered a free workshop to students through the Lewis Center for the Arts. They also let Quipfire! open for them. Through that amazing experience, I met the co-creator of Baby Wants Candy, who asked me to accompany them as an intern during their time at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And I got funding from the Lewis Center to help me go!

This was my second summer interning for Baby Wants Candy, and the weeks I spend in Edinburgh are always my favorite part of the year. The interns learn a lot about improv by taking improv intensives, exploring the Fringe, and watching Baby Wants Candy perform a fully improvised musical every single night. We also do some very Scottish things, like eat haggis and climb Arthur's Seat and learn traditional cèilidh dances. 

I think that sometimes, when people come to Princeton, they think they have to devote themselves solely to academics and commit themselves to a lucrative career path. But if my summer proves anything, it's that you can be silly and have fun and do what you love, and Princeton will not judge you for it. In fact, they'll help you do it. 

One of the best parts of being on campus this time of year is the changing foliage that signals the coming of autumn to New Jersey. Princeton is one of the more beautiful places I’ve ever lived in or visited (check out the Instagram hashtag #princetagram if you want proof). The abundance of pictures of the campus, and the annual rush to capture it on now-ubiquitous cellphone cameras, reminds me of a particular moment from Oman this summer.

It had been a gloriously beautiful day, and so naturally I’d spent most of it as the Millennial in me is supposed to: trying simultaneously to experience it, and to record that experience. However, I eventually found myself in a place that forced some reflection on that dual urge.

We were visiting Salalah, one of the Arab world’s premier tourist destinations. We’d been looking forward to the trip for weeks—every local to whom we spoke said Salalah was the one place we had to visit while we were in the country. Hugging the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, most of Oman is unsurprisingly arid. But Salalah was different, they told us. Salalah was rainy, cool and most amazingly, green.

Midway through our visit, I found myself standing on a hilltop about an hour from the city, in a place as sacred as any to be found in this part of Arabia: the purported tomb of Nabi Ayyub, the Prophet Job revered by all three Abrahamic faiths. The hills rose high above the city and coast, thick with decadent foliage that came as a shock after the sparse desert. An otherworldly mist enveloped the hills, making the verdure seem almost fluorescent in the light.

As I’d done in countless other places, I wandered around with my iPhone at the ready, prepared to capture the perfect image. But frustration set in quickly, because my phone camera seemed inadequate to capture the beauty around me. The green didn’t pop enough, the mist looked too thin on my screen. I snapped away, deeply unsatisfied (I clearly lacked Job’s patience for the task at hand). In surrender, I put my phone in my pocket, defeated.

I’d thought the place beautiful before, but now that I could see it without the incessant buzz at the back of my mind compelling me to find the ideal new cover photo, I could marvel at the misty view. Wandering down the hillside a bit, away from my friends, I stopped on a knoll overlooking a sharp drop off. I stayed there still and quiet for a long while. After a time, I looked around and realized that one-by-one, several others had made their way down to me and had all, without exception, also stopped to steep in the silence.

I kept only one picture from Job’s Tomb, which a friend offered to take as we were walking away. It doesn’t come close to capturing the hillside as I felt it, but the fact that it exists at all reminds me that I was there, and that memory is enough. We do not need the perfect picture, for most experiences will never condense cleanly to a set of pixels. But I cannot fault the urge to try, because when that fluorescent green fades from my mind, I will always have a snapshot to jog it from the mist.

I’ve put several more of my best pictures from Oman below. I’ll have an update on Princeton life here soon!

I spent this summer working with a post-doctorate researcher in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EEB) who is conducting a study of febrile illness in pediatric patients in Laikipia District, Kenya.

Until last January, I had never heard the word “Ediacaran” in my life. Nor could I reliably point out to you where the country Namibia is on a map. Despite that, I spent all of June and July in Namibia as a field assistant for a geosciences graduate student, Akshay Mehra, who is studying what could be some of the first animals who inhabited the earth during the end of the Ediacaran period.

History was made this summer in Washington, D.C. In early August, President Obama hosted 51 official delegations from the African continent for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. Among the cast of participants were heads of state, foreign ministers, trade ministers, first ladies, cabinet officials, ambassadors, diplomats, CEOs, visionaries, and, at the bottom of the ladder, me, the intern. 

As a student in the Wilson School, I spend my days (and nights) studying the historical and theoretical underpinnings of public policy, specifically in global development. Even though I've taken seminars in politics and economics, my aspiration to become a policymaker requires, well, experience in policymaking. With the help of the Wilson School, I was able to intern this summer in the Economic Policy Staff of the Bureau of African Affairs in the U.S. Department of State. I was nervous—I had taken some courses in economics and development, but I had never traveled to anywhere in the African continent, nor did I know anything about trade, which was a large focus area for the office. But I was also excited. I wanted to test the years of seminars I had attended, the pages of research papers I had written. I wanted to practice my French. And, of course, I wanted to know if a career in the State Department was really a fit for me.

As an intern in the Economic Policy Staff, I was able to participate in the organization, planning and execution of the largest U.S.-hosted summit in history. Our small staff had a stake in almost every summit event, covering issues ranging from trade negotiations and foreign direct investment, to wildlife trafficking, extractive industries, energy policy, and female economic empowerment. When I arrived in June, the office, freshly staffed with new interns, was already buzzing in anticipation. I was given the choice of focusing on an issue area that most interested me, and for the next seven weeks I focused my attention on female economic empowerment and public-private partnerships. 

Although we often think of interns as skilled photocopiers and coffee-retrievers, the State Department had no use for these skills (I, however, did need a lot of coffee). My internship wasn't just a front-row ticket to the policymaking process— I was, figuratively, on stage. I drafted memos and attended staff meetings. I learned how to navigate the department's protocol, as well as its labyrinthine hallways. My pumps got a workout as I raced to meetings, briefings, roundtables, receptions and forums across the capital. I assisted in programming for the African Women's Entrepreneurship Program, an initiative that supports African Women CEOs in their enterprises, and during the three days of the summit I had the opportunity to plan and staff numerous events, including a business-to-business marketplace, where the CEOs had the opportunity to showcase their products to U.S. companies, and the announcement of a $1 million public-private partnership to support female economic empowerment on the continent.

In the end, my hopes for the internship were beyond fulfilled. Not only was I able to work on substantive policy during my internship, but I also was able to see it fulfilled and realized during the Leaders Summit. Inspired and determined as I prepare to return to campus for my senior year, and as the specter of post-graduation looms ahead, my belief in the impact and possibilities of public service have been renewed. 

Part 2 of my summer update! See Part 1 here.

While the previous post looked more directly at my project, a great part of my Dale experience lies in my day to day life in New York City. As I'm heading home soon and my time in the city comes to a close, let me share some highlights.

My Home Base

Going into this summer, I was excited not only to be able to work on my project, but also to pretend I'm that archetypal young artist, striking it out in the big city alone.

Thanks to the Dale's help, I've gotten to live my artistic escapades without the struggles of a true starving artist. I've been staying in the Markle Residence, a really sweet building right around the West Village.

Along with my project and class exercises, I've also been able to explore some of the million little art, reading and writing projects I always have fluttering around my head.

It's been really fun and helpful to have time to mess around, figure out my style, and develop in my art and writing. 

The neighborhood around my residence is really beautiful. Some of the best walks in NYC are right down the street.

CMA

When Dana, my super cool boss at the Princeton Cotsen Children's Library, found I was going to be in NYC, she connected me with the Children's Museum of the Arts (CMA). I'm so glad she did—I've ended up at CMA a few times a week this summer and have loved it.

I've been helping with the marketing department, writing some promotional material and CMA blogs (I could write blogs for life), or going around the museum to photograph the kids at work in the various art rooms. I've even been sent along on a few of their outings to photograph and gather writing content, but basically I felt like one of the giddy kids running around on the field trip.

My time at CMA has been the perfect complement to my Dale summer. It's allowed me to share my skills and time with a really cool organization, plus get that extra creative boost from being around totally uninhibited kids doing art.

New York

I've lived my life in a places very unlike NYC, so every day here has been an adventure. I'll share some highlights of my wandering, sometimes done with friends in and around the city, sometimes just on my own. This portion will probably reveal to you New Yorkers (and everyone else) what an absolute tourist I am, but since that's not really a secret, no shame.

Subways

I remember the first time I was navigating the subway myself. I had filled up my Metro card, not fallen onto the tracks and was conducting myself like a person with a cool place to go and a cool mind to get me there.

As I stood there, on my way across New York, learning to let my body sway with the jolting of the car, accidentally on the uptown instead of downtown train but blending in calmly, I just remember feeling inside,

Two months later, I'm still not over subways. They're the best.

Parks

I really like walking and people watching, so I have definitely hit up a lot of parks around the city. Someone once asked me if I was a serial killer because I was sketching people from a distance, but for the most part, I've just been able to float around and soak in the sites.

In Central Park, I was once walking behind someone on the phone and heard him say, "I'm walking by a rock with children climbing on it." 

I think Union Square, which is near my housing, is my favorite. I can go there to read in the lawn or see something cool, since there's always someone dancing, playing music, blowing bubbles, selling poems typed fresh from a robin-egg blue typewriter, something neat like that.

In general, it's just cool to see people hanging out and...

....just...doing their thing.

Pigeons

I know city pigeons have a reputation of being gross, but I really like birds and haven't found New York's to be an exception to my affection.

Other sites

There's just so much to see around the city. While I haven't even scratched the surface this summer, I have seen some pretty cool things.

One time at Grand Central Terminal, I found the most adorable bridal party ever classy-ing up the place.

My roomie Alissa came out for my birthday, and we had all sorts of adventures around tea houses, MoMA, and Times Square.

Also went to see Aladdin on Broadway, which was AMAAAZZIIINNGGGG

Another time, I rode down to the Brooklyn Museum with my buddy Audrey. They have some pretty crazy cool exhibits, including one by Ai Wei Wei now. My favorite was the corner with two bowls, full of pearls.

Checked out the Met and found one of the most overachieving instruments ever.

The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens are also amazing.

Endless green, rose gardens, mini bonsai lemons; what more could you want?

One of the most amazing exhibits I've been to this summer and possibly in my life has been the New York Public Libary's The ABC of It: Why Children's Books Matter.

I have very strong feelings for Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's Goodnight Moon, so...

Also met this cool guy there.

Wrapping Up

My time living in NYC has undoubtedly been awesome. The city is not that far from Princeton, so I'm sure I'll be back, but it still seems that after such a great experience here, the ending has come way too quickly.

Goodbye Metro! Goodbye square! Goodbye pigeons everywhere!

 

My summer internship with the Quebec Labrador Foundation was a literal and figurative journey.