What D.C Has Done For Me

Before I came to Washington D.C., much of the anticipation that I had had came from knowing that I would have the opportunity to meet many different people from many different backgrounds as well as have a unique academic experience.  However, I did not really consider how much I would evolve as a person and as a leader during my time here.  As someone who has been in school for the last fifteen years of my life, my mind, much like those of most college students, has been programmed to think primarily about the academic benefits of an educational experience and not as much about how experiences can connect on a personal level.  This is not to suggest that I did not receive any significant academic advantages from my time here in D.C. by any means, however my biggest accomplishments are more comprehensive in nature as opposed to simply a scholastic achievement.  My achievements have come in the form of improving as a leader, as a student of higher learning, and as a person on the aggregate.

          

Since I did not possess much work experience prior to participating in The Washington Center Program, I never knew what my leadership style was simply because I had never been put into any legitimate leadership roles.  I had always viewed myself as somewhat of a leader because I consider myself to be an outgoing person, but I never had much of a leadership style that I could call my own.  This new style that I have developed while in Washington D.C. has come through working with several other interns with different tasks that we have to perform. 

          

At my internship with the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA Center), we were given a series of tasks specifically for us to do, and it would be up to all of us to delegate these tasks for ourselves since we may not have as much time to complete all the tasks we had been asked to do by the assigned deadline.  Consequently, we as interns had to take it upon ourselves to decide who would and was capable of performing certain tasks at that time.  I have found that my leadership style is more hands-off in nature in the sense that I do not feel the need to micromanage whatever I asked the interns to do.  Granted, I am sure that once I am put into more important leadership roles, my leadership methods will probably change and be more assertive, but in the meantime, I have found this hands-off approach very beneficial and critical towards maintaining a good working relationship with my colleagues.

          

With this newly developed leadership style has come a change in personality on my part as well.  In my Individual Development Plan, I mention that I wanted to improve upon my assertiveness yet also attempt to discover the balance between that newfound assertiveness and non-confrontation.  While this balance is difficult to attain, I have found that I have been able to be more assertive when the situation properly calls for it.  More importantly, studying the dynamics of different personalities has helped shape me into what kind of person that I would like to be personally and professionally.  While interning at the NESA Center, I have had the opportunity to meet people with several different personality types.  Along the way, I have made mental notes as to what personality attributes I would like to keep, to develop, and, as well as traits that I would not like to have.

           

Even amongst all of these personal achievements, however, The Washington Center program is still academic in nature and thus I have accomplished a great amount academically as well.  One of the most interesting aspects of my U.S. Foreign Policy in the 21st Century class that I took while in Washington is that it was taught in the style of a graduate school seminar, in which the entire class was driven by class discussions of readings and writing policy proposals.  Furthermore, I really enjoyed learning how to write policy papers simply because these essays are different than the typical essays one writes in a high school or undergraduate course.  While a research paper is very structured in nature, policy papers are persuasive in nature, meaning that the style in which the paper is written is equally as important as the substance that is conveyed through that style. 

           

However, my favorite academic experience was the opportunity that I had to work alongside a faculty member of the NESA Center named Dr. Murhaf Jouejati, a scholar specializing in Syrian politics and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.  Part of my internship involved what my supervisor created known as a mentorship program, in which we would be paired up with a faculty member and assist him in any projects that he/she may be doing.  I had the chance to help him create a presentation before a moderately high ranking group of American military officials on the Arab-Israeli conflict.  More importantly, we have had a chance to have fascinating discussions on the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as on Syrian politics, and from this we have become good friends and will be keeping in touch once I return home.

I am very thankful for the opportunities that I have had here in Washington D.C. while participating in The Washington Center program.  The experiences that I have had here have far exceeded my expectations of what life in D.C. would be like.  This program has impacted my life so much that it has inspired me to come live here, attend law school, and work at an international trade law firm in the D.C. area.  If I were to reach that point, I would love to give back to The Washington Center as much as the Center has given me, if such were possible.  Perhaps a future TWC student can intern wherever I work and I will be able to give him/her the same experiences my internship did for me.    

Day 2-4: U.S. Foreign Policy, Regional Dynamics, and a tour of DC

The last three days have been very interesting. On Day 2 (Thursday), I came in around 7:45 a.m. and checked to see if the coffee was made and then turned on all of the TV screens. The first full day of seminars focused on U.S. foreign policy, how it’s made, and how the governmental structure of the United States works. It was basically a year’s worth of a high school government class packed into an hour and a half long session with half of the time devoted to Q&A. It was actually a great refresher course for me as well, because it gave me a chance to learn about a lot of the stuff that I didn’t learn in high school. The other session was the basic breakdown of the intelligence community in the United States, which was completely new for me, considering I do not know the first thing about the intelligence community. That section was eye-opening. At the end of the day, we split up into discussion groups that we called “breakout groups”. It was a pretty interesting discussion, as the group simply brought up questions about what they had heard in the earlier session.  A lot of the different questions revolved around the intelligence community, and in particular how massive amounts of information could be spread so covertly within the intelligence community. 

      

Friday was a shorter day because the participants were given the afternoon off to visit their respective embassies. The morning was spent discussing the regional dynamics of the NESA region, and how the United States' national interests relate to many of the issues on the ground in the Middle East, such as issues with immigration in North Africa, drug trafficking, and of course, the rise of terrorist organizations. 

       

Saturday was quite an eventful day. NESA offered the chance for participants to go on a tour of DC and get a historical lesson of the significance of many of the famous memorials around DC, such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Washington Monument, Lafayette Square, and the White House from a NESA faculty member. This was the second time that I had been on the DC tour. If you recall from awhile back, I also helped tour a group of Pakistani military officials for our Pakistani Military Seminar. It was really nice to see the monuments again, especially since I didn’t have to see these monuments immediately following a massive snowstorm. Seventy-five degrees and sunny, it was the perfect day to walk around and see the sights of DC. Afterwards, we drove to Woodbridge, VA to the Potomac Mills Shopping Mall, where the participants had about two hours to eat lunch and shop around this incredibly huge shopping mall.

       

So what was my job throughout all of this? My job was to distribute the interpretation devices so that the participants who didn’t speak English could understand the tour guide. I also was part of the crowd control so that we could keep the group together. You would be surprised how difficult it was to keep 24 participants in one group. There were always a few people that would just run off and do their own thing and then I would have the lovely task of trying to look for them in a mile-long stretch of monuments. Nevertheless, it was still a great experience because I really got to know a lot of the participants a lot better. 

     
On Monday, the CT Seminar will hold sessions on transnational threats in a greater context, the rise of illicit support networks, and a discussion on the different sources of insurgency and political violence, and I'll let you all know the different tasks that will be in store for me.  Until then, take care, and hope you all enjoy the rest of your day. Peace!

Combating Terrorism Seminar: Day 1

Right now, you’re all probably looking at the title wondering whatever happened to my seminar on Yemen.  Well, it turns out that NESA was planning on holding two seminars at the same time, the first being the Yemen Bilateral Seminar, and the other the Combating Terrorism Seminar.  Little did I know until late last week that I would be assigned to the Combating Terrorism Seminar and not the Seminar on Yemen, so I will be taking you all on a daily look of my role in the Combating Terrorism Seminar.  While I was looking forward to helping out with the Yemen Seminar, I’m also really excited this upcoming Terrorism seminar as well.  The Combating Terrorism Seminar, as the title already suggests, involves high ranking government officials from 17 different countries in various ministries discussing and debating the more pressing transnational and domestic issues revolving around terrorism, and discussing what can be done to take steps forward towards ending it.

With that being said, I will be giving you an insider look at the work that goes behind the scenes during the Combating Terrorism (CT) Seminar as well as a description of some of the events that will be going on during this seminar for the next five days.  The first event actually began on Tuesday evening, where the interns, planners, and participant program assistants hosted a Welcome Reception at the hotel that the Seminar participants were staying in.  My job for the evening was to direct the participants into the Jefferson Room inside the hotel and then prepare the interpretation devices so that the non-English speakers will be able to understand everything that the course director was saying during the speech.  After the reception, I had the chance to mingle with the participants over a delicious dinner.  The evening ended around 9 pm and then we all had to be back in NESA at 7:30 pm am for the first day of the CT Seminar.

The first full day of the Seminar started the next morning around 7:30 am.  Most of the day was spent taking care of administrative issues and other housekeeping businesses, such as getting the participants badges to get into the building, taking a group photo, and simply getting the participants acquainted with their surroundings around the NESA building and Washington D.C. in general.  My tasks for the day involved helping out with all of those administrative tasks that needed to be taken care of, including walking the participants down to get their badges and distributing forms that needed to be filled out during the registration process.  I was also responsible for managing the TV screens around the building, which would show the participants the schedule for the upcoming sessions as well as display any pictures taken from the previous day.  In this case, I put up pictures from the Welcome.  Unfortunately, due to national security reasons, I cannot display any pictures from the Welcome Reception or the CT Seminar on the whole. Also, as interns we are assigned to make coffee and tea for our participants.  Now it may not be the best part about being an intern, but it also benefits us as interns because then we will get the opportunity to have free coffee and tea for the day.  The day ended with the Senior Vice President of National Defense University speaking on behalf of the NESA Center, welcoming the participants to NESA.  The most interesting aspect about this session was that what was supposed to be simply an introductory talk ended up turning into a discussion on Iran and its influence in the region.  The first day of the seminar ended around 4:15 for the participants, but our day was not over just yet.  We had to help clean the plenary room, which is the main room that the CT Seminar assembles, as well as prepare coffee and tea for the next day.  By the time we were all set with that, I got by around 5:45.  

Tomorrow we will begin the first full day of sessions and discussion groups, with those discussions revolving around how U.S. foreign policy is shaped and how the shaping of U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy affects the Near East South Asian (NESA) region.  Until then, take care, and hope you enjoy the rest of your day! 

What’s up world!  Hope all is well wherever you are, and for those in college, hope everyone’s finals studying is going well.  The semester is coming to a close soon, but that does not mean that things are slowing down around here at the NESA Center by any stretch of the imagination.  
     
A little while ago, I mentioned that we had the opportunity to work during NESA’s Senior Executive Seminar (SES), the seminar of the highest level.  The two-week long seminar addresses strategic concerns of the Near Eastern and South Asian countries as well as those of the U.S.  From issues such as the Arab-Israeli Conflict to how to address the Iranian nuclear issue, over thirty participants from fifteen different countries listened in on several speakers and would later separate into small discussion groups.

This is the discussion group that I sat in on for two weeks and had the opportunity to listen to diplomats and military officials about proper strategies needed to bring more regional stability to the Middle East.

         
As an intern, one of my favorite responsibilities is to sit in the breakout room and take notes on significant remarks made by the participants.  It was especially interesting to see how certain delegates from particular countries addressed certain issues.  For example, countries that are further away from the region were less inclined to discuss about the Arab-Israeli Conflict than the countries closer to the region.  From this and other encounters in the breakout room, I’ve learned that while countries recognize that their national issues affect countries around them, those same countries are out for their own national interests first and others second. 
       
The highlight of this past week was visiting the NEWSeum, a museum devoted to exhibiting the history of journalism for the last several centuries through articles and a series of different exhibits.  One of my favorite exhibits, yet also the most saddening, was the 9/11 exhibit, which displayed newspapers from all 50 states as well as about 30 different countries showcasing their way of reporting such a devastating tragedy.  What was most interesting to me was just seeing the different ways different newspapers reported the story. I would imagine if I were in that situation and I had to report on the 9/11 attacks, I wouldn’t really know where to start--I would be in such a state of shock. Another interesting exhibit was the Elvis Presley exhibit, which discussed Elvis’s impact on music, popular culture, as well as journalism.

This map shows the amount of press freedom that is recognized in each country around the world.  An extensive study conducted annually by think tank Freedom House, the map shows the countries in green as free, those in yellow as partly free, and those in red as not free.

Now for those who are following other Washington Center bloggers, they are all on their last week here in D.C.  I, on the other hand, have been asked by NESA to stay an additional two weeks to help them out on their upcoming seminar with Yemeni military officials.  So that you all can get a more in-depth look at what exactly goes down during these seminars, I plan to do a daily post starting next Monday and ending next Friday on all of the seminar events, including the people that I will get to meet, and the topics discussed, so please stay tuned for that soon! Until then, take care, and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week.

Peace!

My Interview with Peter Stephens

What’s up, world!  Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the beginning of your week.  This week I decided to depart from the typical accounts of everyday life in order to focus on my informational interview with international trade specialist Peter Stephens.  For those who are planning to come to The Washington Center, you'll have an assignment to interview someone in the DC area who is in a position that you would like to have at some point in your professional career. 
        
Ever since I was in high school, I had always wanted to attend law school and pursue a career in international trade law.  As an undergraduate at the University of San Diego, I chose International Relations as a major and Economics as one of my minors (the other in Spanish) as potential precursors to my future studies in international trade law.  Therefore, I felt it would be fitting for me to interview someone like Peter Stephens, a man with 19 years of public policy experience in international trade law.  The opportunity that I had to interview him has helped shape my future career path.

Peter Stephens is currently the vice president for the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships (NCCEP), an organization devoted to helping to provide education for the students that, according to the organization’s website, are “most often left behind”.  However, he also has extensive public policy experience especially with regards to international trade.  He was the director for governmental affairs at the Council of the Americas, where he served as the U.S. private sector representative to the free trade area for the Americas, worked on Trade Promotion Authority and the official North American Free Trade Organization (NAFTA) annual report card.

We first talked about the amazing opportunities that Washington D.C. can provide for my professional career as an international trade lawyer or as someone interested in public service.  He alluded to how amazing it was that so many prominent contacts around the DC area are more readily accessible than one may believe.  From all of the lectures, seminars, and other events that I have attended all semester long, what he mentioned seems to be very accurate.  What I also noticed about Washington is just how diverse the population is, mainly because so many public service officials, whether they are working at the local, regional, or international level, work in the D.C. area and come from so many different parts of the world.

From that point on, our discussion revolved around several different topics, among them relevant economic schools of thought in today’s global economy and their implications, the importance of opening up trade opportunities with more countries and the merits of going straight to law school after college versus taking time off to work.
  
We both seemed to agree that governments on the whole have grown, yet at the same time, the growth of nation’s governments and economies have meant a greater interdependence on other countries.  As a result, Stephens argues, more countries need to open up their markets to help spur growth within their own economies. When he mentioned that subject, I specifically thought back to the Pakistani Military Seminar that my internship at NESA held, when a Pakistani Air Commodore once asked in one of the discussion panels about the possibility of the United States opening trade relations with Pakistan.  I then turned that question over to Mr. Stephens. He emphatically supported opening up trade and saw it as important because of Pakistan's ability to produce goods and distribute them at low prices.    
 
While I didn't resolve my internal debate about whether or not to go directly to law school post-college by taking with Mr. Stephens, he did give me some great advice. First of all, he suggested that if I ultimately take time off, I should not let myself get sucked into the thought of working and making money, which could prevent me from advancing my professional career.  I also greatly appreciated his candor when he mentioned that I will never really know what the “correct” decision to make is until I jump into a particular situation and see how it plays out.
  
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to chat with Mr. Stephens about his career path and how my path could potentially be shaped. With all of what I have learned at the interview in mind, I feel confident that I will be able to make good decisions whenever that time comes. 
        
Next week, I plan to discuss my trip to the NEWSeum and the Senior Executive Seminar that NESA held a little while back.  Until then, take care, and hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.  Peace!

So Busy!

Hello, everyone! I apologize for not posting in a while, but work has been so incredibly busy!!! A lot has happened within the last 3 weeks--and I’ll definitely be sharing more with you through several posts over the course of the week. I hope all is well and that you’re enjoying the wonderful spring weather wherever you are.

All right, so I’ll backtrack to about three weeks ago. If you recall in my previous post, I mentioned to you all about my amazing opportunity to work with Dr. Jouejati, the scholar from Syria who specializes in Syrian politics and is also an expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I was working with him on a presentation that he was planning to give on a simple comprehensive overview of the issues that have created instability in the Middle East, namely the Arab-Israeli conflict. The talk was given at the Elliott International School in George Washington University in front of military officials attending the National Security Studies Program. Despite the broad nature of the lecture and discussion, I found it to be very informative. For those not interested in political science and international relations, I’ll spare you all the details, but for those interested I’d love to share with you all that I learned.

Two days later, I went to visit my good friends Brandon and Bobby in Philadelphia for the weekend.  When I got there on Friday evening, we immediately made our way over to what was considered the best soul food restaurant in Philly called Ms. Tootsies.  When my friend told me we were going there, I didn’t really know what sort of atmosphere to expect, but when I walked in I was surprised to see the restaurant set in a formal setting with Harlem Renaissance artwork all over the walls.  Our meal was served to us on very fancy china plates, and we feasted on fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collared greens, string beans, and cornbread.  It was absolutely delicious, and it was definitely money well spent.  The next day, we spent most of our day walking around South Street in Center City.  It was a great place to walk around because there were so many different little shops and other places to eat.  Of course, no experience in Philly would be complete without eating a Philly cheesesteak, so we spent our lunch eating at a local restaurant that only served different varieties of cheesesteaks.

Again, I’m so sorry for not having updated this blog for a while but now that work will be a little less hectic, I’ll be sure to make up for the last few weeks.  Until next time, take care, and hope you all have a wonderful day.  Peace!

Reunion

What’s up, everyone!  Hope all is well wherever you are.  It is such a wonderful day outside in D.C. today; there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature is supposed to get up to 66 degrees today!  I’m sure the San Diegans reading this are laughing at the thought of 66 degrees being beautiful, but hey, it’s as close to beautiful as we can get around here this time of year!

Before I begin, I just wanted to give everyone my March Madness picks for college basketball, because we all know that it’s that time of year again.  Even though my school was absolutely nowhere close to qualifying for this tournament, it’s always exciting to see who ends up on top.  That being said, my Final Four picks will be Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, and Duke, and I have Kansas State and Kentucky in the championship with Kentucky winning the whole thing.  I can’t wait for all the games to start!

So last weekend, my good friend Brandon came into town and we had a chance to hang out and check out all the different sights.  I got the chance to do the tourist thing all over again, which is always nice.  We first made our way over to the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian.  It was a great refresher’s course in biology and a wonderful reminder of how awful I was at it in high school.  All kidding aside, I really enjoyed looking at all of the different exhibits.  Afterwards, we walked all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.  It was just as beautiful of a sight to see as it was the first time that I had visited it.  I’m sure I’ll be going at least one more time and it will probably be equally as beautiful once again.  It’s difficult to put into words just why it’s so beautiful; unfortunately you won’t really get a sense of what I’m talking about unless you’ve actually visited the memorial.  Afterwards we walked from the Memorial over to the World War II Memorial and then to the Washington Monument and physically got up close and touched the monument, which is something that I hadn’t done yet.  What I also learned is that by law, no building in Washington DC can be taller than the Washington Monument, which I thought was very interesting.   

 My buddy Brandon & I in front of the ledge below the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

 The Lincoln Memorial: Take 2

Just recently at NESA, I was given a great opportunity to work with a scholar who specializes in Syrian politics and US-Syrian relations named Dr. Murhaf Jouejati.  He also teaches at the George Washington University here in the D.C. area and teaches courses on Comparative Politics and the politics of Syria and Lebanon.  He attended the confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of the upcoming US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford.  Right now, I’m helping him prepare a presentation to high-ranking military officials on the importance of the Arab-Israeli conflict towards restoring peace in the Middle East that he will be giving on Thursday, and I will also be there to assist him during his presentation.  I will be sure to let you know in my next post how that goes, because I’m really looking forward to sharing that with you all. 

I have a very busy rest of the week planned, not only do I have this upcoming talk to attend, but I’ll also be going to Philadelphia this weekend to visit some friends, plus I’m going to get the opportunity to interview a specialist on international trade for my Washington Center portfolio next Monday.  I’ll explain more of what that all entails in next week’s post.  Until then, take care, and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week.

Peace! 

Speak Up!

It’s going to be really hard to try to top last week’s post, but I’ll try my best. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the sunny weather, I know I am!  If you can believe it, it’s going to be 70 degrees outside today!  Not even you Southern Californians can say that it will get this warm in your area today, so I will definitely enjoy the warmth however long it lasts.

Last week was somewhat slower than recent weeks.  I did, however, get a chance to visit the Library of Congress for the first time so that I could access their database for my research paper for USD.  The main reading room was one of the most beautiful rooms that I had ever seen.  Part of my fascination with the LoC was just because I was not expecting the building and rooms to be more than just a plain, functional building.  It was very difficult to get any work done in that room for the first 15 minutes just because I was in amazement by how beautiful the building looked. I loved it so much I took a picture of it with my cell phone and immediately uploaded it onto my Facebook, which is something I don’t normally do. 

When I look up at my study area this is what I see inside the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress.  So beautiful!

This past week, I visited Georgetown for the first time.  I had always heard about how beautiful Georgetown was to walk around, but I never had the chance to see it in person.  For those that ever come visit Washington, DC, it’s a great place to just hang out, or perhaps to take your significant other out for a romantic evening on the town.

This apple turnover that I had at Georgetown was so delicious that I had to put this up.  Once spring comes around, I'll have more pictures up of Georgetown once the photo ops present themselves.

Although last week was somewhat slow, this week has started off pretty strong.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a talk at the Cosmos Club on the implications of American national security strategy reform under the Obama administration with the Honorable Kathleen Hicks, who is the current Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces.  Among the people who attended were high ranking officials from the UK to Japan to Algeria to Israel.  What I enjoyed most about this discussion was that it was not a diplomatic discussion in which officials would just exchange pleasantries and get around the topic questions without ever saying anything substantive.  The moderator for the discussion made it absolutely clear that he expected everyone to NOT be politically correct so that they can feel comfortable to say whatever is on their minds. This rule in these formal discussions is commonly referred to as the Chatham House Rule.  This is one of many of these discussions that I’ve been to since my time here in DC, and to be perfectly honest, not as many people spoke up they did at some of the others that I’ve attended.  In all fairness, though, the setting and environment was very formal, and I know that if I were one of the participants in this discussion, I would feel less inclined to just spout off on whatever crosses my mind about the topic.

The outside of the exclusive Cosmos Club

Hope everyone is doing well, and I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you next week.  Until then, take care and hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Peace!

My Trip to Norfolk, VA

Right now, you’re probably looking at the title of this blog post and thinking to yourself “Norfolk?  Really, Cameron?  What is so special about Norfolk?  You could have talked about anything else in the world and it would have been at least twice as interesting.”  Au contraire.  This was in fact one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life. It didn’t feel like much of a business trip to be honest, but rather more like a vacation.

We left DC at around 7:30 am on Wednesday morning by bus to Norfolk, and it took us about three hours to get there with one rest stop.  I was tired the entire morning, and to be honest, I had the same feeling about this trip as you probably did when you read this blog post, “Norfolk?  Really?”  But that sentiment went away quickly, especially because the group of military officials that we accompanied was such a great group to spend time with. Of course, I enjoy working with the other interns and staff members at NESA.  We stopped for lunch at a nice Spanish restaurant called “Bodega Tapas”, and the food was absolutely delicious.

One of the perks about going to one of these trips through the NESA Center is that the trips are all-expense paid, and this includes the meals, which are typically very gourmet.  We went to the US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Headquarters in Norfolk for a briefing on what USJFCOM does and the role that it plays in the transparency of the United States Department of Defense.  What amazed me more than anything is that despite the complex chain of command and all of the different sub-departments that make up our national defense, our national defense system is so strong and transparent.  Now of course, there will always be discrepancies here and there, but by and large the image that USJFCOM presented was that those in the higher rankings of the Army, Navy, and Marines are all on the same page as far as foreign strategic policy goes.  Of course, I understood in theory that the US has the strongest national defense in the world, but I never really had much of a sense of how strong it was beyond statistics and all of that I’ve read in newspapers and magazine articles.  After this briefing, we checked into our hotel rooms quickly before attending dinner.  It was a beautiful hotel room; I had two queen beds and a big-screen HDTV all to myself.  Needless to say I really felt like a VIP!  After we quickly changed our clothes and unpacked, we went down to the Grand Ballroom for the Friendship Dinner, where the participants of the seminar as well as some of the USJFCOM speakers came together to have dinner and chat about life, politics, and anything else that can come up in informal conversations.

Is this a nice hotel, or is this a nice hotel?!

The next day was what blew me away the most.  It started with a briefing at the Air Combat Command, which, to quote the website, is “the primary force provider of combat airpower to America’s warfighting commands”.  Immediately afterwards, we stood 10 feet from an F-22 Raptor fighter jet and got professional pictures taken with them!  This is not your ordinary fighter jet, it is currently the crème de la crème of all fighter jets that are being flown as of right now.  Unfortunately I do not have the picture with me, but the moment I receive it, I’ll put it up on the next blog post.  Afterwards, we had another excellent lunch at Air Combat Command with the speakers and the military officials that were participating in the seminar.  Once we filled up on lunch, we headed over to the Norfolk Naval Base and toured the USS Truman, one of the largest aircraft carriers on the base.   There we received an insider tour of the ship, including a tour of the flight deck and the area where all of the flights coming in and out of the carrier are managed.  In fact, we got to go through the “Captain’s Passageway”, where apparently only official business could be carried out in order to pass through it! I’ve attached many pictures below to show you what I got a chance to see in person.

 The view from the flight deck of the USS Truman

 Inside the Flight Deck 

The Captain's Chair Inside the Flight Deck 

It's okay, captain, I'll take it from here. 

 We got to walk through this passageway!

Standing on one of the runways aboard the USS Truman 

Friday, to be perfectly honest, was the least interesting of the three days.  We went to Yorktown to witness the battlefields that held the American Revolutionary War, and the battlefields were just that, a field where a battle took place.  Other than a couple canons and the Yorktown Victory Statue, there wasn’t all that much to see, but it was nice to get a refresher course on 18th century American history.  Afterwards, we headed to the Prime Outlet Malls in Williamsburg, VA.  The saddest part, however, was when we had to say goodbye to the participants because they were all heading home the next day.  It was especially sad because we had all grown very close after spending so much time with each other.  I definitely will never forget them and the experiences that we’ve all had together.

 

In front of the Yorktown Victory Statue 

I’m not sure what’s in store for next week, but rest assured it will definitely be exciting, so until my next post, take care and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week.  Peace!!

Out & About

What’s up world! Hope all is well with you and that wherever you are, you’re staying nice and warm. And for those living in Southern California, Arizona, or Hawaii right now, I envy you.

Finally, after 5 feet of snow that caused DC to shut down for several days, life has moved on! The snowstorms are finally over, I went back to work for the first time in 11 days on Tuesday, and most importantly, I got to leave my apartment! So naturally this past week was a lot more interesting than the previous. I had quite a busy Friday night last week. I first met up with other members of the International Affairs Program in The Washington Center and watched an Israeli documentary called “Promises”, a movie about seven Israeli and Palestinian children that manage to form a friendship against all odds. This movie puts the grotesque politics of both parties aside and focuses the entire movie on the thought process of the kids, what initially runs through their minds when they find out that they’re meeting, how they interact with each other when they meet, and how they feel after forming that relationship. It was a really touching story. Here's the trailer of the documentary for anyone interested in seeing it; I highly recommend it.



Immediately afterwards, I walked to my cousin’s apartment where I picked him up and then met up with some of my friends at a lounge/bookstore called “Busboys and Poets” where they were hosting a poetry slam, a place for poets to showcase their poems so that they can compete for a spot on the local poetry slam team. Now this was the second poetry slam that I had ever attended, with the first one being in San Diego, and quite frankly, I was less than pleased. There were some good poets, but for the most part, the poets that I heard in San Diego were much better, which surprised me because I thought this would be better than anything on the West Coast. At any rate, it was still a very fun and eventful night regardless.

Here I am anxiously waiting to buy my ticket for the poetry slam!

Yes, you are seeing this correctly. I am sitting on the stage of the poetry slam. They leave seats up on stage for the people that show up late and can’t find a seat in the seating area.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to help give some of the military officials from the South Asian region at our most recent seminar at NESA a tour of Washington DC. We visited some of the main sites around the city, like the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the White House. Unfortunately I cannot show you the pictures of me with some of the officials that I toured, but at the very least I can at least show you the pictures of where I visited. It had been a very long time since I had visited (I think I was 5 or so). The Lincoln Memorial was absolutely beautiful. Not only was the architecture of the building and the quite a sight to see, the view overlooking the entire capital from the memorial was also wonderful. Had we not needed to leave so soon, I probably would have sat on the footsteps of that memorial for a while. I’ll also be going back in the springtime to take more pictures.

In front of the White House

Standing right in the middle of Lafayette Square

In front of the Washington Monument

In front of the World War II Memorial

Inside the Lincoln Memorial

Outside the Lincoln Memorial

Well it’s been quite an eventful week. Next week, I’m going to visit Norfolk and Suffolk, VA and get a chance to see an F-22 Raptor fighter jet in person! Until then, take care, and hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Peace!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

What up world!  For those of you reading, hopefully you’re reading this post in a place with better weather than where I’ve been for the past week.  Although considering how many feet of snow DC has gotten in the last 6 days, that probably would not be saying much.   
  
If you remember last week, I talked about a “huge snowstorm” that came through DC.  That storm had accumulated about six inches of snow that took the entire Saturday, January 30, for it to fall.  Last Friday, DC got hit with 6 inches of snow in just two hours, and since then we were hit with another two and a half feet of snow last weekend and another foot and a half on Tuesday and Wednesday.   This is one of the worst storms Washington has had in about 90 years or so, and this whole week I’ve been thinking to myself, “why couldn’t I have brought the beautiful San Diego weather with me?!” Seven days have now passed since the last time the federal government has been open, and I’m really starting to get cabin fever over here!  However, with the sun being out as I’m typing this and no more snow expected until a light snowfall on Monday, I’m pretty confident that the federal government will finally open up for the first time in a week tomorrow.  I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed for that one. 

Here's a picture of me walking through the worst of the snowstorm on Friday night.  It was actually quite a fun experience to walk through the snowstorm!    

Despite all of this, I did have somewhat of an eventful weekend.  On Friday, I trekked through what I thought would be a brief snowstorm to my cousin’s apartment in the heart of DC by foot and Metro, and little did I know I would be stuck there for a while due to this “snowpocalypse”.  The next day, my cousin and I participated in the biggest snowball fight I have ever seen in Dupont Circle. It was reported that at least 1,000 people participated in this epic battle.  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, so I can’t provide you any footage of my own.  But in my defense, I didn’t know that we were going to this snowball fight until after we started walking for about a mile or so!  At any rate, I’m really sorry that I can’t provide some personal footage of this fight, but from this point on, I’m definitely carrying my camera with me everywhere I go!  At any rate, here is a video that someone else got from this fight.  I tried looking for a video with me in it, but was sadly unsuccessful.    

On Sunday, my cousin and I watched the Super Bowl with some of his friends and had the fortune of watching the Saints win.  I’m really happy for the city of New Orleans that they got that championship, especially since the city had gone through so much in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Since the Super Bowl, the last few days have been somewhat dull since I have been stuck in the confines of my apartment since I took that taxi back from my cousin’s apartment. 

A beautiful picture of the night sky immediately before kickoff of the Super Bowl  

Sorry for the brevity of this post, it’s just that not much has happened since it has snowed the past week!  By next week, I won’t be restricted to talking about snow and not working for several paragraphs, and I’ll have a lot more interesting events to talk about.  Until then, take care, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.  Peace! 

Week 2 - Always Learning Something New Every Day

What’s up, world! Hope everyone is doing well and has had a nice week thus far. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, and at this point the exciting, up-tempo pace of my life in Washington D.C. will not be slowing down any time soon. So with that said, here goes!

When I last wrote, I promised I’d mention to you a little bit about what the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, or NESA Center does. The NESA Center is a government-run strategic institute under the Department of Defense that was made for the purpose of facilitating dialogue with countries within the NESA region, which spans from as far west as Morocco to as far east as Bangladesh. This mission is ultimately achieved through a seminar that consists of a series of lectures put on by hired scholars and retired lieutenant colonels, with roundtable discussions following them. The geography of this region also suggests that the NESA Center helps build relationships with officials of states that have had very tense relations for decades, such as Arab states such as Syria and Lebanon with Israel, and India with Pakistan. On TV, it’s very easy to witness how difficult relations are between two countries from all of the painful war images and emotional rhetoric expressed by politicians and advocacy journalists alike. However, what does not get noticed is the willingness of officials from these countries, regardless of their rank, to establish closer relationships with others despite the political status quo, and this is what makes NESA Center more relevant in international politics than ever.

My internship at NESA does not just involve performing the typical administrative tasks of preparing folders, making coffee, and cleaning out some of the lecture rooms at the end of the day, but it’s also it’s also quite an academic experience because we get to sit in on most of the seminars that take place. For political science nerds like me, sitting in on these seminars are quite fascinating because they focus many different relevant topics, such as how the Department of Defense conducts strategy and the role of soft power and diplomacy in satisfying U.S. national interests. Of course, there are always those few seminars that require me to have an extra cup of coffee or four before entering the room, but by and large the lectures are very interesting. I also get a chance to interact with a lot of these officials that come in between seminars.

During these seminars, the NESA Center takes the participants from the NESA region to different sites around Washington D.C. and an out-of-state trip. For example, last week I had the opportunity to spend the day on Capitol Hill and walk into the same room that President Obama had given his State of the Union address the night before. It’s quite a fascinating experience to walk into the very same building that the President gave such a traditionally important speech the night before, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the President’s policies. However, as interesting as it was to learn about all of the symbolism from all of the artwork in the room, I was disappointed to see that the room was much smaller than it appears on TV! I guess the camera adds ten thousand square feet to rooms like the way it adds ten pounds to a person.

Well maybe the room where the President gave his speech was smaller than I thought, but the size of the rotunda is definitely as large as advertised!

On Saturday, there was a huge snowstorm in and around the DC area. For someone like me who is from the west coast, the idea of snow and wearing boots, gloves and an overcoat is a pretty foreign concept for me. It was the first time I had seen snow in five years, and because of that, it was just fun to watch the snow fall. It was also a great excuse to stay indoors and just relax all day!

I wish I could take credit for taking this great picture, but this was actually done by my roommate and friend Tim Wyatt.

The next day, I visited the Washington National Cathedral and had the opportunity to attend the Holy Eucharist in the morning. Now, I do not consider myself a very religious person by any stretch of the imagination, but I do consider myself to be very spiritual and have a very complex belief system, and I can say with some certainty that the service that I attended definitely contributed to my spiritual growth. The service proved to be more of a message of loving God and one another rather than a stereotypical message of condemnation. There is so much insight that many different religions and philosophies can provide, but unfortunately, the fanatics and their beliefs are so sensationalized that many of the positive messages get overlooked. It was a wonderful sight to see religion being applied in such a positive light.

This is probably one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. It especially looked nice with all the snow on the rooftop!

I’m really looking forward to watching the Super Bowl this Sunday. Unfortunately, since my Oakland Raiders are not in it, it really doesn’t matter to me who wins. I’ll be happy just to see a competitive game. I’d obviously rather have my Raiders in the Super Bowl, but at this point, hell has a better chance of freezing over than the Raiders have a chance to win a Super Bowl anytime soon.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment on this page and I’ll do my best to address it next week. Until then, take care and hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week. Peace!

Week 1--So much to take in!

First off, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this blog!  I'm not writing so that I can publicly ramble on about my sentiments about being in DC, but rather so that you can get a chance to see what I'm doing in my internship and around DC in general, and that hopefully you will be interested in participating in an internship through The Washington Center.  Before I continue, I just want to say that this is my first time writing a blog and I really would like to know what you like about it--what you don’t like, what you think I should change about it, etc.  Like I mentioned, I want to make my experience interesting for you, so please, please, please write comments about it and be as candid as possible so that each post I make is better than the previous ones.  So without further ado, let me just give you a little information about myself for those that don’t know me.    

My name is Cameron Khodabakhsh, and I'm a sophomore at the University of San Diego.  I was born in Lakeland, Florida but was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I'm currently majoring in International Relations with a double minor in Economics and Spanish.  You may find this shocking, but my last name doesn't look quite as American as "Smith" or "Johnson".  My father is of Iranian descent and my mother is a second-generation American.  I have traveled to Iran several times and take great pride in the fact that I'm an Iranian-American. 

It's pretty remarkable how much I've done and learned these last six days.  I knew my life and the atmosphere of DC in general was going to be hectic, but for some reason that hadn't really hit me until I had arrived that it would get so crazy so quickly.  When I learned about all of the work I was going to do this semester, which consisted of a full-time internship plus all of the TWC assignments plus my class assignments plus my home institution assignments, I definitely felt overwhelmed at first, but had also realized that this semester will probably go by faster than any semester in college just because of how much time will fly when I get so busy.  

On Friday, I met all of the interns I would be working with as well as some of the people in the International Affairs Program.  Instead of the conventional morning orientation lecture, the program manager split us into small groups and sent us off on a scavenger hunt around two different Smithsonian exhibits, the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Here is the picture of our small group. This picture was taken after a long, but still exciting day on our feet.

My apartment is located in Alexandria, VA on the seventh floor.  The view is great, especially considering most of the apartments just get views of the neighboring apartment buildings!  (See picture below.)  It comes with so many different amenities which made packing much easier, such as a toaster, pots and pans, cutlery, beds, and a cable TV, and our TV has hi-definition channels!  Needless to say this will make watching the Super Bowl that much more enjoyable!  It also helps that my roommates Ryan, Jezer, and Tim are all really nice people as well.

 

You can see the capital from here!!!!

My internship is at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies under the National Defense University under the Department of Defense, or NESA for short (wordy, I know). As I continue to write this blog, I’ll write more about what exactly NESA is and what my job entails, but writing it all out in one sitting would bore you (and probably me) to death.  However, what I can tell you is how much I enjoy working with my other interns, Jim, Joelle, Ali, and Dan.  It’s always great when the people that you’re going to see and work with 40-50 hours a week are kind, intelligent, and helpful people, and so I’m very grateful for that.  

Next week, I’ll let you know about more of my internship responsibilities and how my class on US Foreign Policy in the 21st Century is going. I'll also post pictures of some of the places that I’m visiting in Washington DC.  Thanks again for reading this everyone, and I can’t stress this enough, anything you think I should add to future blog posts, please don’t hold back.  Take care, and hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.  

Peace!