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

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

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