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

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