November 12, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
It is official that I'm going through my quarter life crisis. I guess
it came a little earlier for me, but that's the only way I can explain
my restlessness for the past few weeks. I think someone
forgot to mention to me that it's all downhill after turning 21. So,
I'm trying my best to keep that reality check from affecting my
performance at work, class, The Washington Center events, and my life overall.
The fortune cookie I got the other day that read, "Today is the last
day of your life so far." added more fuel to the nearly uncontrollable
blaze within. It caused me to make a bucket-list, push certain people
out of my life and welcome others back/in, and over scrutinize my
inadequacies, i.e. lack of focus, commitment, skills, etcetera.
For the last few weeks, the added pressure of life after Adelphi...of getting into a public health graduate program..has been
making me feel overwhelmed. I don't see why my drive to learn and
$100,000+ for a graduate degree can't be enough to get me an acceptance
letter. This experience is also causing me to see the harsh reality
behind the $140,000 bachelor's degree I will receive in May. How much of a great investment is it really?
With graduate
school in the back of my mind, it feels as though nothing matters. My
supervisor at Safe Kids Worldwide is kind enough to give me advice on the kind of programs he thinks would be good fits for me, but it's still not enough to alleviate my stress.
You know what, I feel like packing up a bag and running away to a
remote land where I can discard my addictions to technology, escape
standardized testing and forget about the catch-22 of "1-2 years of
experience" to get a job or acceptance into a higher education program.
As you can see, it has been a troublesome few weeks. My studying
for the Graduate Record Exam isn't
helping my situation. Anyway, the best thing that happened last week
was the chief operating officer of The Washington Center
taking me and another student out to lunch to evaluate the program. I
think if she actually took our recommendations seriously, the program will surely be even more successful.
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
November 06, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
Since I've been in Washington, DC, I've learned a few
things (sometimes the hard way) and also had the opportunity to
implement a few behaviors I already knew. Check out my list thus far.
1. Never have a sweaty/wet hand.
- No
matter where you are or what you are doing, there's a very high chance
you will be asked for a handshake. Wiping your hand at the last second
is a little weird.
2.
Everyone knows someone, especially in Washington, DC. - With that said, be mindful of the things you say and do in public because it'll most likely come back to hunt you.
3.
Be
nice to your concierge at home; respectful of your security guard at
work; and friends with your office's administrative assistant...not on
a superficial level though. - At least learn their names.
- These people have the power to brighten your day & life. They can also make things extremely difficult for you.
- There's
a high chance that they have been in town for much longer than you have
thus likely to know all the good spots and who to talk to.
4.
Never hesitate to pick up one of those free newspapers by the Metro stations.- The
cover story might be the topic du jour at work. Trust me, you don't
wanna be that guy who never knows anything about the hot issues.
Besides, knowing what's going on in town or around the world is fuel to
conversations and start of new relationships.
5.
Remember people's NAMES, especially the individuals who work in your office. - Screwing up a person's name or calling him/her a different name will make it awkward almost every time you two meet.
- When
sending an e-mail, double, triple, quadruple check if the person's name
is spelled correctly. It annoys me when my name is misspelled.
6.
Don't be afraid to boost your colleagues' egos a bit by chatting with them about who they are and what they do. - Don't turn it into an Oprah session though.
7.
Small talks are your best friends. - They will get you into places.
8.
Never leave your apartment without a business card. - Be
very thankful for the ones TWC gives out. If you can bring your own,
do...it might not be a good idea to put your cell # on it.
9.
Sunday night is not considered weekend. - The Metro shuts down at 12:30 am on Sunday nights. Be careful, the last train might be at 11:55 pm at your station.
10.
During your internship in Washington, DC, never "Friend" your colleagues on Facebook.- Open a LinkedIn account. It might become essential to your professional life.
11.
Be sure to take advantage of the FREE things in DC i.e. museums, festivals, lunches at embassies, and theatrical shows.- Be
on the look-out for e-mails from TWC. The program usually gives away
free or discounted tickets to shows (but respond ASAP since they go
quickly).
12.
When going
out to a social event with your boss, don't dress better than him. You
want to make him look good, while not looking like crap. - Get
the feel of the office's cultural norms. Don't be that guy who's always
in suit & tie while your colleagues are in business casual. I was
that overdressed guy the first week, but then realized, I gotta let
everyone know that I actually belong in this place.
13.
The Metro is not as reliable as it would like you to think. - I
hate being late to anything. So, if you're like me, add 20 minutes to
your traveling schedule. If you live on the Red line, add 30 minutes.
That line is ridiculous.
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
October 27, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
I am now about
halfway through The Washington Center program, whoa. Therefore, I will
soon have to decide whether Washington, DC is simply a phase or aim to get back here after graduation in May 2010 for graduate school
and/or work. As my favorite quote by Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist
says, "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping
you to achieve it." Henceforth, I have to be careful of what I wish
for. Don't get me wrong; I love Washington, DC, especially because of
the kind of people I've heard speak and/or met over the last seven
weeks. The list includes:
- President Barack Obama
- Bob Schieffer, Face The Nation
- Juan Williams, renowned journalist
- Congressman Norm Dicks
- His Excellency Mr. Sergey Kislyak of Russia
- Rt. Hon. Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen
- Congressman Robert Wexler
- Gillian M. Sorensen, senior advisor at the United Nations Foundation
- Welile Nhlapo, South African Ambassador
- Gov. Roy Romer, The College Board
- Fidel Herrera Beltran, governor of Veracruz, Mexico
- And so on...especially of the big shot callers I met at the TWC Gala
As a kid from
Brooklyn, NY, when I meet some of these individuals, I'm always in awe
of how willing they are to bend over backward to do whatever they can
to help me succeed. Exchanging business cards and actually keeping in
touch with them makes me want to stick around DC a little longer.
However, I despise the corporate life/work style; staring at a computer
screen 12+ hours a day have caused me to put my career goals under
scrutiny. I always end with the same question at the end of each
thinking cycle: how do I continue to make people's lives better while
not having to conform to the 9-5 circuit for the next 40 years? What
treasure or 'personal legend' am I being led to by all these
influential people I'm meeting?
At last, one person can really impact his community, his country, and eventually the international community. My 93 year-old grandfather who just passed away is a testimony to that statement.
RIP Grandpa Necene.
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
October 14, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
The last two weeks have been the most exhausting time
for me since I've been in Washington, DC. My workload has increased
dramatically, thanks to the visit of my university’s liaison to The
Washington Center from New York. However, it's not the augmentation of
work that's been making my day arduous; it's the kind of work I've been
doing. For example, last week, I spent almost the whole week analyzing
nearly a million hospital visits (from 1998 to 2008) due to skateboard
injuries in the United States alone. It's unnerving to read story after
story of how children get injured skateboarding because of stupidity.
For example, there was this kid who strapped a skateboard unto his feet
and then jumped on a trampoline in an attempt to build momentum to
skateboard over a table. Among that kid's many injuries were
lacerations to his testicles. Anyway, everyone seems to be happy about
the kind of statistics I'm producing. It feels good tobe in a position
to create data people are actually using in their reports and speeches.
In other news, I turned twenty-one on September 28. Fortunately, on that day, the Science, Technology, and Society Program explored
Washington, DC's watershed with an educational boat ride along the
Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. It was the absolute best gift since it
combined four of my favorite things in the world; adventure, water,
conversations with an intimate group of friends, and education. The
coolest part was definitely when I piloted the boat.
Fishing and Learning
Boat Ride
Nevertheless,
unlike many people who turn 21 years old in the United States, I didn’t
imbibe any alcohol. I wanted to do things a little differently for the
day that I supposedly transform into an adult; having that day fall on
a Monday made things a lot easier for me to accomplish that mission. To
further celebrate, I went to an amazing equestrian show called Cavalia and then to Black Pearl Sings! at the Ford's Theatre; and had lunch at the Russian Embassy with His Excellency Mr. Sergey Kislyak of Russia, Rt. Hon. Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen, and Congressman Robert Wexler. And to top it all, I took a quick trip to NYC to visit my 93 yr-old grandfather.
Haiti-NYC, Mexico-MD, Vietnam-MA, South Africa-AK
Nonetheless,
as for my academic course on science and technology, there's nothing
exciting going on. I always dread going to class on Wednesdays,
especially since my classmates and I have to sit for 3 hours, not a
minute less, to listen to our professor give his lectures. After an
8-hour day at work analyzing data on a computer screen, 3 more hours of
intellectually bullying my brain with how to expedite health and
environmental policy proposals through Congress has yet to make me glow
with jubilance; no major complaints though.
Pres. Obama
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
October 14, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
First and foremost, I
hate Wednesdays! It's the day my brain and body spend about 15 hours
under strenuous stress. The day starts with my alarm blasting at 7:15
am, even if I had one of those long nights. As soon as my feet hit the
ground, I have 45 mins to get ready..including ironing my clothes &
cooking breakfast...and leave my apartment by 8:00. I'm trying to be
the super intern who gets to work before everyone at the office, take
20 mins lunch breaks, and leave the office after everyone has
left...well, at least after my supervisor.
On
Wednesdays...these tasks become a lot more dreadful. After 8 hrs of
work, I gotta rush to Arlington, VA for my Science, Society,and Policy
class. Anyway, after a 3-hr class with a professor who's undoubtedly a
genius, my brain is reduced to mush. In the first class, we spent about
an hour going through that dude's basic accomplishments, which included
being Congress' science advisor. Even that guy's humor requires
thinking; my 5 classmates & I always have some sort of a delayed
chuckle.
After 9 hrs of work, 3 hrs of class, 2 hrs
of transporting to those activities...I also got to spend at least
another hour on the Metro trying to get home despite train delays :(
Hmm...who would have thought it was gonna be such a hard knock life. No
complaints though, just saying.
This is actually
the first time I've ever had a 9-5 job. Yeah, I've had
jobs/internships...but I usually do the bulk of my work off-site. I
don't mind sitting down in my office and analyzing data arriving on my
computer screen from the 16 coalition countries of Safe Kids Worldwide.
It's just that I'm no longer sure if I want/will be able to handle
20-40 years of that kind of corporate work/life-style. At the same
time, each task I complete at Safe Kids is essentially a part of the
grand scheme of things to save children. Hmmm...save children for next
40 years...OR buy a bungalow on the beach of a place like Thailand and
then open up a tourist magnet to support a chilled lifestyle...very
tough decision, lol.
Nevertheless, when I was
working in France, my colleagues were a lot more enamored to have me
around as an intern. Here in Washington, it's as though I'm just
another worker :( I must admit, I wasn't expecting that sort of welcome
into the real world so soon...nor was I expecting trumpets blaring,
gifts, and countless lunch rendezvous. C'est la vie.
Also,
how come there are soooo many crazy people in DC? Seriously though,
I've never seen such a huge, congested group of people who literally
lost their minds. I often hear these individuals saying random, work
related things. For example, I was sitting down in front of the Newseum
and a homeless man walked by saying, "No, I will not upload the file
online. I'm not ready yet, I need more time." Coming from NYC, I
thought NYC's homeless problem was outrageous, but I would have never
expected DC, the nation's capital, to not be able to take care its
residents. Perhaps some form of 'siesta' need to be implemented...the
stress level is way too high.
Luckily, there are a few ways to get rid of stress...
Frederic Yonnet...there's always a free festival going on in the DC area
TWC Picnic
Under 21..no worries..there's always somewhere to go..even if you have to party with an X on your hand
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
October 14, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
There's no such thing as an 'accident' is what I'm
reminded of whenever I speak to my colleagues, read an article, or
analyze a report at Safe Kids Worldwide. My supervisor even challenged
me to think of ONE childhood unintentional injury that could NOT have
been avoided, and I couldn't think of one. So, if you have one in
mind...pleassseee let me know. Perhaps he's right by further proving my
lifelong theory of 'everything happens for a reason.' In this case,
preventable reasons that take lives. In a book written by the founder
and director of Safe Kids, Martin R. Eichelberger, titled Pediatric Trauma,
he stated: "The most important step in preventing injuries is
overcoming a sense of fatalism, that injuries are "accidents," "acts of
God," or random events that cannot be predicted. Injuries must be
viewed as diseases that can be prevented by using the principles of
epidemiology, engineering, biomechanics, and health education" (pg 15).
With
that in mind, I find it to be a bit depressing to sit alone in my
office for numerous hours reading testimonies of parents whose little
boys and girls die due to things like road traffic injuries,
fire-related burns, falls, poisoning, drowning, etc. All it takes is to
put the child in a car safety seat & buckle up, install fire alarms
& check their batteries, child-proof their homes, and have
anti-entrapment pool drain covers. It's freaking ridiculous to have
nearly more than ONE MILLION children die each year due to clumsiness
and unpreparedness of adults and products with defaults (World Health
Organization, 2008).
This sort of report is slowly instilling a
fear within me...a fear that's making me want to stay as a bachelor for
at least the next 7 years. That way, I can continue to make the best of
my youthfulness while continuing to help establish legislation that
will make the world a better place for my children. Speaking of
youthful enjoyments, for Labor Day, a group of friends came to
Washington, DC and we partied through Sunday night until the club we
went to had to be shutdown at 2 am. Apparently there was a false
fire-alarm..yup..things were that hot in there. And then I found out
the hard way that I no longer live in NYC where the Metro runs 24/7. So
after a 'cheap' $40 taxi ride home to Rockville, MD, I swore to never
miss the 12:30 am trains on Sunday nights (they run later on weekends).
Goal
of the month: get on the other side of Google. Instead of me searching
for things on Google, I want people to search for the result of the
project I'm working on (which cannot be disclosed). I want to write my
first peer-reviewed journal article in the next few weeks (at least be
acknowledged in one). Gotta aim for the stars!
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
**sigh**...what I think about every time I look out my10th floor office window...
October 14, 2009 - by Emmanuel Hector
Bonjour,
Welcome to Live.Love.Learn.
These
3 L's are three of the pillars of my life. Live fully...making each day
as different from the previous as possible. Love fully...try to do
everything with passion...the kind that cannot be duplicated/eliminated
by any machine or anyone else despite the worst of economical
downturns. Lastly, Learn from other people's mistakes &
success...education is all around us...through travel, school, friends,
etc...all our possessions can be taken away, but our experiences will
forever be with us.
Speaking of experience, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found
out that only 19.7% of 2009 college graduates were hired upon
graduation. Therefore, we are now living in a time in which the kind of
school attended, grades, even study abroad experience ight not land you
the job you've been thinking about since the first day of kindergarten.
Anyway, when I found out I got into The Washington Center that will
provide with the needed networking that can help me get a job upon
graduation; I felt the warmth from a light in heaven beaming down on me.
The
anticipation of doing an internship in the capital of politics,
Washington, DC, is far more overwhelming than I would have ever hoped
for. Yes, my home is the city that never sleeps, New York City. Yes,
I’ve been to numerous cities around the world through programs like
Semester at Sea. And yes, I’ve even held internships in foreign cities.
But Washington, DC still elicits more excitement and nervousness than
any other place that I’ve lived or visited. Maybe it’s because
Washington is essentially the heart of what I want to dedicate my
professional career doing. I plan to use political tools/resources as
an inspiring diplomat to keep children safe and provide basic health
care to the working poor. As a senior at Adelphi University, the time for me to start achieving these career oriented goals is approaching me a bit too fast.
With
that said, my anticipated experience through The Washington Center
might truly be my magic wand to help save the world, one person at a
time. So, when I got hired by Safe Kids Worldwide,
a thousand questions popped into my mind. For example, what if I find
that sort of job to be too boring? What if I'm not put on that career
launching pad? What if being a gregarious person in such a vibrant city
push me off track? Anyways, only time can truly answer these types of
questions.
Nonetheless, I will be working on two projects at Safe
Kids Worldwide that I hope to be as amazing as they sound. One is
nationally oriented, the other international. In the first project, I
will be working diligently to get the Consumer Product Safety
Commission to require all manufacturers in the USA to place warning
labels on dangerous child products. In the other project, I will be
working to create bylaws and procedures for the International Trauma
Research and Injury Prevention advisory board.
- Work at Safe Kids Worldwide
in Washington, DC
- Attend a Science, Society
& Policy course in Arlington, VA
- Live in Rockville, MD
- Get into graduate school for public health
- fulfill Adephi
University's academic requirements so I can graduate in May 2010
- Attend
the Science, Technology and Society Program events
- Travel to NYC, Antigua & Barbuda, and Bermuda
- Enjoy being 21 years old in the nation's capital
Doing all these things together are the perfect ingredients
for great professional success or a breakdown; I pray it's not the
latter.
The Science, Technology and Society Crew @ The Science Museum
At
last, I hope to have you, as a reader, accompany me in my journey in
the nation’s capital that will surely include many interesting moments
:-\
Until Next Time,
Emmanuel H.
