Rana Mohamed
Class of 2019
My CGS Story:
The year I spent at the Center for Global Studies gave me confidence in my future career plans. Prior to this internship, I could not pinpoint a solid career path based on my dual majors of Global and International Studies (GLIS) and International Politics. These majors are broad and could result in a career in the government, a non-government organization or lead to graduate school, law school and who knows what else. I was in a discouraging fog because I did not know how to turn my studies into a practical career. However, after a year of working at the Center for Global Studies I view my majors in a new light because of the inspiring people I had the honor of working with and meeting.
Two of the most inspiring people, I met were Vijay Prashad and Kim Barker, who spoke at the Center’s sponsored events and gave a fresh perspective to my academic career. Two weeks prior to Prashad’s lecture, I was assigned to read a chapter of his book, The Darker Nations, in my globalization class. This chapter sparked my interest in the Third World and its political and social challenges and advancements. I was immediately filled with questions and having the opportunity to speak with Prashad provided me with new insight which translated to adding a Middle Eastern Studies minor.
The second person that affected my career plans and professional development was Kim Barker. Earlier that semester, I was instructed with reading Barker’s Book, The Taliban Shuffle, creating a poster for public advertisement, writing up a press release, and establishing questions for an interview that I would conduct. Besides the book reading part, I have never done any of the latter. Luckily, the staff at the Center were able to provide me with resources, examples, suggestions and support as I entered a new realm of writing. The most challenging, but rewarding part was interviewing Kim Barker. I have never conducted an interview before, especially not with someone who interviews people in their day to day job. However, this experience increased my confidence, professionalism, time-management, quick-thinking abilities, and ability to synthesize her responses. At the end of the interview, Barker commended my interview skills: ability to create an open and welcoming environment, go with the flow of the interview, and demonstrate a level of professionalism required of journalists. This has by far been the greatest experience of my college career.
What started out as a simple desire to acquire an internship turned into an experience of a lifetime filled with lessons on patience, teamwork, interviewing, photography, design, writing and computer skills. These new skills will allow me to present a new level of expertise in future internships and careers. Another added bonus to this internship was the World Stories Alive series were I had the opportunity to work with children and explore new languages and cultures. This will be extremely useful as I study abroad this summer in Amman, Jordan.
Interning at the Center for Global Studies has expanded my global knowledge and awareness through first hand experience in a professional setting.
Sincerely,
Rana Mohamed