Friday, September 30, 2011

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

Monday, September 19, 2011

I Had Some Senior Moments

The weekend is a short time period.  Just two days, maybe two and a half if you play your cards right.  Long enough to recover from the craziness of the week, but still short, when all is said and done.  That being said, you might find it surprising that over the past two days, I experienced many "senior moments," as we'll call them, because I need a phrase to justify my behavior.

It started on Friday night, at Alumni Shabbat (remember how I said I'm Jewish?  Well, this is how I spend my Friday nights...judge all you want).  Anyway, I was speaking with a recent graduate and friend of mine, who is part of GW's Presidential Administrative Fellow program (PAF).  In short, the program allows a select few graduating seniors to continue their studies at GW graduate school while also working for the university (obviously, GW gives these students a little extra moolah for their slave services).  Naturally, I decided I was going to be a PAF, too!  Senior Moment #1.  More on that later.

Then came Saturday, a day blessed by the gods as a sleep-in-and-watch-college-football-all-day-while-everybody-else-in-your-life-exhibits-productivity...day.  I can't fight with the gods, so I sat on the couch in my living all day watching various collegiate teams with which I have no affiliation while drinking mimosas (six, to be exact) and pretending to do homework (read: I added pages to my blog).  FOR TWELVE HOURS.  Senior Moment #2.

And, finally, Sunday, the day of rest....about that.  I went to the Redskins game (they won...as you can see below), but that has surprisingly little baring on my senior moments.  When I returned from the game, I discussed my newfound desire to become a PAF with my roomates, who swiftly reminded me that being a PAF involved taking the GRE.  And because PAF applications are due in January, and I would need to have my scores by then, I would need to take the GRE no later than Thanksgiving, allowing me about two months to prepare for a daunting exam, all while taking five classes, working 17 hours per week, and spending almost 10 hours per week with student organizations.  But apparently, my dreams of becoming a PAF weren't over yet, because I felt the need to go through all of GW's 200+ graduate programs to find the one that was just right for me!  About a half-hour later, I had narrowed the field to four programs geared toward my interests, at which point, I became "tired of applying to grad school."  You can only imagine my roommate's face (she's in the process of applying to law school).  I then turned to her and said, "It's probably an important part of PAF to actually want to go to grad school, isn't it?"  She didn't even have to say "that's kind of the POINT" for me to know that thought was rushing through her head.  Senior Moment #3, but sort of an extension of Senior Moment #1.


And, because it was Sunday, I felt the need to have an extra senior moment -- YAY ME!  I crawled into bed and starting planning my final semester schedule.  In case you've lost track, we're entering week 4 of 16 for this semester, and I'm already looking ahead to the spring semester.  This a problem.  Regardless, I am now reconsidering my Journalism minor (because taking TWO journalism classes next semester would just be far too overwhelming...I need one more class to fulfill my major).  I'll keep you updated on that situation.  And now I sit here, awake an hour past my bedtime, finishing an assignment I could have done last week.  Senior Moments #4 and #5.  I'm slightly worried that this is how you all feel right now:


Is it too early for me to be exhibiting signs of senioritis?

Peace, love, bagels...and senior moments?

Sam

Monday, September 12, 2011

Introductions

Let's just cut to the chase.  My name is Sam, and I am currently a senior (shudder) at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.  I am majoring in Judaic Studies and minoring in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The first two weeks of senior year have presented a crossroads for me.  I love GW, and I am constantly reminded of how much I enjoy learning in a classroom environment.  However, my time in college is rapidly coming to an end, which means the work force awaits.  The only thing I know for sure at this point is that I will not be going to graduate school in the fall.  Beyond that, I have no idea what post-graduation life will look like.

Hence, the premise of this blog.  I will chronicle my career-focused endeavors in an attempt to find the job that's right for me.  If anybody wants to help me with my search, feel free to post job listings that you think might be of interest to me.  The only criteria at this point are: 1) I can live in a major metropolitan area (that can include cities outside of the US), 2) my job is somehow related to the communications, writing/editing, social media, and/or marketing worlds.  Clearly, I am flexible.  Unfortunately for me, flexible has turned into confused, so I will use all of my available resources, including this blog, to hopefully find an appropriate job.

My goal for this blog is to keep the world updated on my post-graduation plans (they change every few days, so watch out) and attempt to keep my readers laughing both with me and at me.

Peace, love, and bagels,

Sam