Chicago Thanksgiving

Life Rundown:
For those of you who are unaware, I spent Thanksgiving in Chicago.  As always, the break was too short, but it was fun while it lasted.  The suburban life was fun, but it is definitely nice to be back in DC!

Disclaimer: This is not my grandma or her group. Image courtesy of Google.

While I was in Chicago, I had the opportunity to watch my grandma's musical theater group, Still Acting Up, rehearse for one of their upcoming shows.  One of their pieces has the actors reminiscing about their lives.  "We were going to be rich and famous, but life got in the way!"  Each of the actors tells their story in song, how one was going to act on Broadway, but instead became a teacher.  One woman even said she wanted to be a model, but instead started a family and let that dream go out the window.  Despite their relative disappointments in not achieving their dreams, they all lived out a different type of dream, fulfilling all the same.  As corny and strange as it may sound, hearing these stories was extremely comforting.  I may not reach my ultimate dream, but it will all work out in the end.  I am sure of it.

Career Update:
BE PROUD -- I applied to an MLB.com summer internship this week!  The position is a sports writing and reporting internship, something I am definitely interested in pursuing.  The deadline for another application is coming up on Monday, and then I believe more listings will pop up over Winter Break!  My winter break may very well consist of skiing, applying to jobs, and writing my thesis.

Earlier this week, I met with the Director of the Sport Management Program in GW's School of Business on Monday, and she was incredibly helpful in terms of looking over my resume and giving me some career ideas!

Tip: meet with professors!  They know so many people and always have something helpful to say.  Even if you don't know them, send an e-mail introducing yourself, because you never know what you might find!

Sports Recap:
Stanford finished the season on a high note with a commanding 28-14 victory over visiting Notre Dame on Saturday.  Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Oregon defeated Oregon State in the annual Civil War, meaning Oregon will represent the Pac-12 North in the Inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game against UCLA. Why UCLA, you might ask with a less than impressive 5-4 Pac-12 record?  Well, USC is on probation and is ineligible for postseason play.  Too bad.

For Stanford, it's now a waiting game.  The big question: will Stanford play in a high-profile BCS Bowl game?  Or simply a run-of-the-mill bowl game?  ESPN predicts the Cardinal will face off against Oklahoma State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 2.

The 49ers eight-game winning streak was snapped at Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.  After driving 45 minutes to my friend's house outside of Chicago in order to watch the game, I was highly disappointed.  The Ravens are an incredibly talented team with one of the stingiest defenses in the country, and there is only so much you can do on four days of rest after flying across the country.  The Niners' performance was flat and uninspiring.  This weekend, San Francisco heads back home to take on the 2-9 Rams.

Exciting News of the Week:
Applications, applications, applications!  Also, as with the rest of you, I can almost smell the finish.  I am so ready to return to California for Winter Break.

Peace, love, internships, and reaching for the stars,

Sam

Making Moves

Life Rundown:
In a matter of hours, I will be headed to The Windy City for a cold Thanksgiving celebration, and I could not be more excited.  Quality family time, celebrating grandma's birthday, and seeing the girlfriend.  What more could a guy ask for?

This past weekend was relatively low-key.  I'm already in vacation mode, so saying that work was not accomplished would be an understatement.  Maybe today will be different?  I'll get back to you.

While I didn't do much work, I did perform with GW's University Singers for my final fall concert as an undergraduate student.  Sounds bittersweet, but I'm more afraid of the emotions that will come with next semester's concert.  The concert went incredibly well, and I'm excited to sing Mozart's Requiem in the spring!

Career Update:
In the past week, I must have sent and received more than 20 career-related e-mails.  Instead of just passively searching for job opportunities, I have taken on the monster that is networking.  I'm setting up meetings, sending my resume to people I consider to be very important (I may come to find that these people are one tier above entry level), and applying for jobs, internships, fellowships, battleships, the whole shabang.  I'm proud of myself, and I hope you all are, too!

Sports Recap:
After losing to Oregon last week, Stanford recovered with a home win over Cal to keep the Axe in Palo Alto.

Up North, USC stunned the Ducks, 38-35, handing Oregon its first defeat at Autzen Stadium in 21 games.  (Fight On, professor?) Despite the loss, Oregon can still clinch the Pac-12 North next week with a win.  However, this misstep opened the door for Stanford to sneak back into the Pac-12 Championship Game.  With another Oregon loss next week, the now 6th-ranked Cardinal will fight for the Pac-12 crown in the first annual Pac-12 Football Championship Game.

In the NFL, the 49ers dominated the Arizona Cardinals (not to be confused with the Stanford Cardinal), 23-7, moving to 9-1 on the season, giving them the second-best record in the league behind Green Bay.  Some analysts are already discussing San Francisco's Super Bowl eligibility.  One thing is certain: the rest of the season could be very fun to watch, especially Thanksgiving night in Baltimore!

Exciting News of the Week:
Three words: Thanksgiving in Chicago.  Need I say more?

Peace, love, football, and turkeys,

Sam

Resting in the City that Never Sleeps

Life Rundown:
I went to New York City this weekend to interview prospective students applying to GW.  This trip, though full of firsts, was not my first venture to the Big Apple.  I've eaten the pizza and bagels, taken the ferry to Liberty Island, strolled through Central Park, even performed in Carnegie Hall.

On the whole, I think Manhattan is a great place to visit with innumerable activities, places to visit, and events to attend.  In terms of living there, though, it's just not for me.  My last visit to "the city" before this weekend came over the summer, and it was not a pleasant one, to say the least.  The highlights: 110-degree heat, suffocating humidity, and distanced friends from high school.

This past weekend was obviously a little bit different.  The weather: beautiful.  The people (fellow Senior Interviewers, accomplished GW alumni, and experienced Admissions staff): awesome.  The food: incredible.  To add to it, I met impressive and inspiring prospective students from all over the area.  Among the applicants was a 15-year-old aspiring engineer with a full two-page resume.  Needless to say, the students, alumni, and Admissions staff in the room felt completely inferior.

However, my biggest takeaway from my trip northward was a reminder of just how much I love DC.  Over the past three and a half years, I have forged an unbreakable bond with this strange city I now call home.  I'm not politically involved, and I've never interned for a Political Consulting firm, yet there's something about this city that feels so comforting for me.  The friends I've made at GW and the people I've met in my time here have forever changed me, and I am so incredibly thankful for all of these experiences I've had.

Career Update:
That's all awesome, but the two most recent jobs I found with MLB.com are in New York City.  Go figure.  One of them is a summer sports writing internship!  I also found a Postgraduate year-long internship at NCAA in Indianapolis (exciting?).  Does somebody want to find me a sports writing job in DC?

Sports Recap:
Speaking of sports, I spent my Saturday night bundled up in my hotel bed watching Stanford play Oregon in California.  Yes, I'm that cool.  And it doesn't help that Stanford lost big time, 53-30.  It was ugly.  The Cardinal can now say good bye to a potential Pac-12 championship, as well as a BCS championship.  However, I'm still proud of my boys and look forward to the rest of the season, including the Big Game this weekend!

As for the 49ers, they defeated the New York Giants at home, finally receiving their long overdue national recognition.  I am extremely excited to see what the rest of the season will look like for the 8-1 Niners, who have five divisional games remaining.  The Seahawks, Cardinals and Rams have combined for eight wins, the same number the 49ers have.

Exciting News of the Week:
Sadly, it's been a relatively calm week, but University Singers will be performing on Sunday at 4 PM at Western Presbyterian Church (24th and G), so come out and support GW's choir!


What to Look Forward to:
Chicago next week!  On Monday, I will head to the Windy City to spend Thanksgiving with my grandma and girlfriend.  As per my last post, I'm very much in need of a break.

Peace, love, and city living,

Sam

Burned Out

November has officially arrived, and I'm ready for senior year to be over.  One problem: I have six months to go.

This is pretty much how I feel:

My semester in a nutshell: I recently told my boss that I was thoroughly exhausted one day.  Her response: "Maybe that's because you're burning the candle from both ends."  I then thought through my obligations for the semester: four classes, two choirs, an a cappella group, tour guide duties once a week, interviewing prospective students twice a week (and travelling with admissions to interview more prospective students), and trying to keep a social life.  Well, boss lady, you just might be right.

My Life Rundown:
Everything is pretty much at a status quo right now.  Classes continue as per usual, work remains the same, for the most part, and student organizations continue to take a fair chunk of my time.  The job hunt drags on with more of the same outcomes.  Believe it or not, there really aren't many job openings for May, June, July, or August yet.  Turns out, people like to fill open positions in a timely manner.  Who knew?

Sports Recap:
The 49ers beat the Cleveland Browns in easy, dominating fashion, by the score of 20-10.  They are now 6-1 and own a four-game lead over the second-place Seattle Seahawks.  Unfortunately, the NFC West is by far the worst division in football.  The 49ers come here to DC this Sunday to take on the Redskins!

The Stanford Cardinal took three overtimes to defeat the USC Trojans (how did that feel, professor?), moving to 8-0 in the process and seeking the school's first Pac-12 Championship since 1999.

And apparently the NBA owners and players still can't figure out how to split how many millions of dollars?  It's painful, really.  And I don't even like the NBA.

Exciting News of the Week:
I got a call this morning from a company I met with at the Communications Industry Expo a few weeks ago asking me if I was interested in applying for the spring internship program!  Depending on the way my schedule falls it's a possibility, but I still appreciated the ego boost!

What to Look Forward to:
Next week, Shir Madness, my a cappella group, will be performing at the Interfaith Dinner on Tuesday at 7 PM in the Marvin Center!  Please come and bring your friends!

Then on Wednesday, GW's Chamber Choir will be performing at St. Stephen's Church at 25th and Penn at 7:30!  The concert is totally free, so just show up and enjoy beautiful French music!

Peace, love, and...time for sleep?

Sam

Yom Kippur

This weekend, while many of you were watching college football (Professor, I'm looking at you), catching up on sleep, or out partying with your friends, I sat in services, repenting for my year's sins, and fasting for Yom Kippur.  It might sound like a miserable experience, but in reality (for me, anyway), it became an incredibly spiritual one.  There is nothing to do but pray and enhance your connection with God.  No food to eat, classes to attend, or work to do.  Just pray.

I won't delve too far into it.  For a more in-depth experience of my Yom Kippur last year, check out an entry from my previous blog.

Shockingly, I have a couple career updates, as well!  I will be heading to the Communications Industry Expo this week through GW's Career Center, and I found a communications opening at a Jewish nonprofit right here in DC!  Perfect, right?!  The job starts in January, though, which might be a little problematic...I think I need to relax a little bit.  Sometimes I need a reminder that it's October and I'm graduating in May.  That's still eight months from now.  I think I need a chill pill.

If only I had the Emperor's qualifications.

Would any of you like to be my sanity coach?  I'll be taking applications throughout the week!

Peace, love, and repenting,

Sam

9/21: Senior Picnic

Now, I might say I'm from San Francisco, but in reality, I grew up in Piedmont, CA, a small hybrid urban-suburban town about 15 minutes outside SF, completely and totally surrounded by Oakland.  Piedmont is a boring city known for its affluent families and incredibly strong school system.  Add that to easy access to San Francisco and you have yourself the perfect place to raise a family.

I hated it.

Especially my high school.

You might be able to understand, then, that my senior year of high school involved very little "school."  I went to class for three hours per day (yay block schedule!), got a steak burrito for lunch, grabbed an old fashioned chocolate donut from Colonial Donuts (I always think that's so funny looking back now), headed home to watch hours of bad TV (think Bravo daytime), did a little homework, and applied to colleges.  For the most part, I stayed as far away from school grounds as possible.

This video will hopefully give you a little more insight into my high school atmosphere.

Basically, for being in the Bay Area, Piedmonters can be very closed-minded.  It wasn't all bad, though.  The community is small and tight-knit, I had a strong, close group of friends, and looking back, I can appreciate that Piedmont was a nice place to grow up, regardless of how much I disliked it.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to be back in my hometown with my family for the first time since January.

I got behind the wheel of my family's Honda Pilot, the same way I did every day during my senior year of high school (only, at that time, I drove a Chrysler mini-van...yes, I was a soccer mom...it's fine).  But instead of coming home to an enthusiastic chocolate lab (above), I returned to a 10-month-old baby (below) of a family friend, whose grandmother recently passed away, and whose aunt is newly engaged.  I legally drank mimosas at our big "family" brunch (apparently there's a developing theme in my life), and I am constantly thinking about my ever-changing career plans.  I am nowhere near as close with my friends from high school now as I was then, and I've established a pretty incredible life for myself in DC, away from my family and roots.  In the words of the famous Bob Dylan: the times, they are a-changin'.

After running a couple of errands last week, I decided to drive around town to see exactly how much has changed.  Surprisingly (or maybe not), things appear mostly the same as they were four years ago.  I drove past my high school, which boasted on its front sign: "9/21: Senior Picnic."  Reflection ensued.

In the four years since my class's senior picnic, a day the seniors enjoy school-sponsored activities off-campus, many of my friendships from high school have deteriorated, but so many have blossomed at GW.  At the time, I never expected that I would end up in DC, but now, I could barely imagine going to college anywhere else.  At the beginning of my senior year, I was sort of a science nerd, taking AP Bio and loving every minute of it.  Now, I've caught the journalism bug and can't get far enough away from Corcoran Hall.

Just as I was searching for the "right" college four years ago, I now search for the "right" career and the "right" life.  And after running my errands, I grabbed a burrito from The Burrito Shop and the same old-fashioned chocolate donut from Colonial.

I guess the saying is true: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Peace, love, and nostalgia,

Sam

Happy New Year!

שנה טובה! / Shana Tova! / Happy New Year!

For those of you who may be unaware, today marks the first day of the year 5772 (counted since the beginning of Judaism!).  If you're still confused, Wikipedia has the answers!

Traditionally on Rosh Hashanah (literally, "head of the year"), we eat apples and honey in the hopes of having a SWEET year.  I had the fortune of coming home to California to celebrate the holiday with my family, so all indications are pointing toward a very sweet year for me!

A few jottings that have been on my mind since I arrived in California on Saturday:

1) Baseball season is over.  I know many of you will disagree by pointing out that the postseason starts tomorrow night, but because my San Francisco Giants did not allow themselves a chance at a repeat championship, my records all say the season is over.

2) I love my family.  Crazy and dysfunctional as we may be, we're a pretty solid group, and I know for a fact that I would not be where I am today without them.

3) The job hunt has officially begun.  I spent the majority of last night sifting through job listings on various websites with numerous organizations.  The task is daunting, but a strange part of me feels confident that a great opportunity will arise.  As always, let me know if you see something for me!

That's about it for now.  Look forward to a new year's resolution in the near future!

And a sweet video to get you in the spirit!

Peace, love, and honey,

Sam