As a Thomas R. Pickering Fellow, an honor that I received with assistance from the staff of the Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research, I had the privilege of interning at the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs (more commonly referred to as the China Desk) at the State Department this past summer

Continue reading: Interning at the State Department

Search terms for the article:

• Erica Thomas state department
• State Department Mongolia Desk
• state department internship china experience
• state department internship blog
• state department china desk
• link:http://estreetbeat com/
• intern experience department of state
• China and Mongolia Desk Department of State
• department of state intern hillary clinton
• Department of State Chinese Desk
• Department of State China Mongolia desk
• department of state china desk employees
• Department of State China desk
• department of state and George Washington university relationship
• china desk state department
• us state department china desk

This summer, I was awarded the extraordinary opportunity to intern at The Voice of America (VOA) in Washington, D.C. As an Intern in the Public Relations Office, some of my responsibilities included contacting various media outlets interested in creating feature stories about VOA, drafting press releases, giving studio tours, and promoting VOA’s events and broadcasts on social media and networking sites.

The Voice of America is one of five entities in the International Broadcasting Bureau, which is funded by the United States government. VOA’s programming is broadcast in 45 languages across the world via radio, television, and the internet, particularly in countries where there is a clear and apparent absence of free press and media

Continue reading: Getting to Know the Voice of America

Search terms for the article:

• cache:ym0rsrlLiXIJ:estreetbeat com/2009/09/15/for-profit-poverty-eradication/ green supply poverty eradication
• voice of america internship

Networking with peers at an academic conference in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Thao Anh Tran

Between meeting and discussing with students across the globe my shared interest in East Asian affairs and seeing North Korea from the Peace Observatory in the DMZ, this past week served as an incredible learning opportunity for me.

As a recent graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs, I am particularly grateful for the financial support I received from the Elliott School Undergraduate Scholars Program. The funding enabled me to participate as a delegate in the Security workshop at the 2009 Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Academic Conference, which was held in Seoul from August 14th to August 17th. Every year HPAIR brings together hundreds of the brightest minds, both students and experts in the field of international relations for discussion on economic, political, and social issues pertinent to the East Asia-Pacific region.

Originally I was extremely worried that I would appear out of place when engaging in discussion of complex issues with future leaders in the field of international relations. Fortunately, my mind was immediately put to ease when I realized my familiarity with the topics of discussion

Continue reading: Presenting Elliott School Research in South Korea

Search terms for the article:

• wordpress blogs

“I come from nowhere.” –Andy Warhol

MEDZILABORCE, Slovakia – Welcome to nowhere, two small Slovak border towns called Mikova and Medzilaborce, but more widely known as the obscure Eastern European genesis of America’s most famous pop artist, whose mother was born nearby.

Surrounded by monuments to the Red Army and overshadowed by an Orthodox dome, the museum built in Andy Warhol’s honor appears painfully out of place. When we arrived at 3 p.m., we were the day’s first visitors

Continue reading: Finding Warhol in Slovakia

Search terms for the article:

• andrzej warhola
• baptism certificate andy warhol museum

After studying Arabic for the last academic year and getting a taste of financial management through a course at the Business School, I decided in the spring that it would be good to get some experience in finance in an Arab country. With a background in political science, Japanese studies and anthropology, I figured it would be hard to start managing a Gulf-based investment fund right away. Instead, I decided to look for an opportunity in microfinance.

My interest in international development and base-of-pyramid business models made me curious about this much-praised approach to help ‘the poor’. Especially after setting up a team of Students in Free Enterprise at GW, I was curious to see how other organizations stimulate entrepreneurship. All the while, it would give me an opportunity to test my newly acquired finance and language skills in a new environment.

So I went online, looked for microfinance organizations anywhere in the Arab world (strategically omitting Afghanistan) and send them e-mails offering my services as an intern. Of the scores of messages sent, just a few resulted in a reply. But eventually, I only needed one, so when Al Majmoua in Lebanon asked me to do an Activity-Based cost analysis to look for ways to improve their profitability, my plans for the summer were sealed

Continue reading: Dispatch From Abroad: Developments in Beirut

Search terms for the article:

• International Dispatch beirut

Hi again everyone! I am writing about my experiences with the online courses that The George Washington University offers during the summer. This is probably of interest to those of you who may have fallen behind on one or two requirements or are just interested in getting ahead!

GW offers some of the same courses that they offer during the regular school year throughout the summer online.  They are mostly six-week courses (the summer is divided into two sessions of six weeks each) and are all worth their usual credit amounts, be it 3 or 4 credits. They also fulfill the same requirements that they would during the regular school year.  These courses,  run mostly through your online Blackboard portal, can be a great way to take courses that you know will count for college credit while satisfying your GW major requirements as well – all while balancing a job and/or other summer activities! You don’t need to be on campus, in D.C., or even in the United States to take these courses – so long as you have access to the internet, you are good to go

Continue reading: Summer Courses Online

Well summer time is right around the corner, and while many people already have solid plans for their summer, a lot of us don’t. Not having any classes makes it easy to get lazy, and before you know it… September has arrived, and your entire summer is gone. A key lesson that I wish I had had instilled in me early on was the value in maximizing every aspect of the summer, not just to relax, but to also advance my educational and career goals.

With that in mind, there are a few things that both upper and lower classman should keep in mind before heading into the summer. While there are no hard and fast rules about what makes for a “good summer,” there are definitely a few different avenues that can help you fully capitalize on all of the opportunities the summer months can provide

Continue reading: Taking Advantage of Free Time in Summer