The beginning of my last semester at JMU....and the job hunt begins!

Well, I have officially completed my last "first week" of college ever! It's an exciting, yet bittersweet feeling, but I know the battle of conflicting emotions will only increase as the semester progresses and brings about many more realizations of "lasts" as a JMU student. My professors have certainly wasted no time dishing out assignments; I have 6 chapters of assigned reading to complete this afternoon, along with writing a news brief, and getting started on a video project. So much for a gradual transition back into the typical college workload. That's certainly one thing I already miss about my "real world" internship experience in D.C.; when I left the office at the end of the workday, the evening was mine to enjoy (well, with the exception of several reading and reporting assignments for my NJC internship component, but those assignments were nothing compared to a semester full of coursework)! Getting re-acclimated to this concept of having massive amounts of homework is proving to be rough thus far. Then again, I've survived the same transition at the start of every semester for the past 3 years so this should be no different, however, this time there's an added component that I hadn't fully considered until a few days ago: job hunting!

Throughout the summer, I was continuously presented with this seemingly simple question: "So what are your plans for after graduation?" Not being the type of person who plans my life out in advance, I usually responded with something along the lines of "Oh, you know, I'm just gonna look for a job in TV news, or maybe something in politics if the media market still isn't doing any better by then." And so it went that I would provide this rather vague response time after time, taking relative comfort in having the padding of one more semester at JMU standing between me and the real world.

Then, last week, I had a few extra minutes to spare in between classes (but not enough to warrant starting on any homework), so I stopped by the office of someone who has become a mentor-like figure to me over the past year, with the intention of catching up on each other's summer experiences. Well, the conversation quickly turned to him asking me: "So, you're graduating in December...how many resumes have you sent out so far?" I stared back at him with what I'm sure was a comically blank expression on my face. "Well, just one so far," I replied. "But I don't graduate for several months and the jobs that are open need to be filled now; nobody is going to even consider my resume when they see that I can't start working until January!" He then started shaking his head and provided me with some insight that somehow hadn't occurred to me previously: It's better to have your resume on file now so that employers might make note of it if a position opens up when graduation time rolls around, as opposed to receiving and seeing your resume for the first time in January along with 15 others who are applying for the same job. This seemed logical (and I don't have a logical mind, hence why I probably hadn't thought of it before, lol), but despite being the typically relaxed, take-life-as-it-comes-at-me kind of person that I am, now I felt like I was already behind on this whole job hunting process.

Thus, I spent some of my spare time this weekend perusing numerous career search engines and relevant websites, looking for leads on media or political jobs. There doesn't appear to be anything out there currently, unless you have at least 3-5 years of experience, but of course, I'm going to keep looking and praying that the right job will be waiting for me when I graduate. In the meantime, I get to teach myself the art of balancing school and job hunting, without letting senioritis kick in and destroy my GPA. Ha!

Sorry for the rambling personal narrative....I'll aim to post something of actual substance soon! As always, take care and thanks for reading! :)

“From Mean To Green: Why Conservatives Should Conserve”

If you scroll down through my posts to the one about Joe Scarborough’s book promotion event at the NPC, you’ll see that I promised to share my reaction to The Last Best Hope. Well, I know it’s long overdue, but I had a pretty busy summer and now that my internship is complete and I have a few days until classes start up, I’ve had some free time to pick the book back up. Yesterday afternoon, I picked back up where I left off in chapter two, but once I finished reading that chapter and turned to the first page of chapter three I literally started jumping up and down with excitement (this is not an exaggeration, either! LOL). Joe’s clever title gave me the only details I needed to know before reading it that this would be my favorite chapter: “From Mean To Green: Why Conservatives Should Conserve.” Before I read any further, I ran to my desk and grabbed a notebook and a pen. Now, anyone who knows me very well is aware of the fact that I rarely even take notes on reading assignments for my classes, much less on a book that I’m reading for enjoyment’s sake. So, that should give you an idea of how excited I was to learn what Joe had to say about Republicans and the environment. As it turned out, I wanted to jot down nearly every sentence in the chapter and refer to it in this post (yes, it was really that good)! However, that would a) be an infringement of copyright law, and b) take entirely too much time, so I forced myself to narrow down the points/ideas that particularly resonated with me. Alas, here is my summary/review/praise for chapter 3 of The Last Best Hope.

Scarborough begins the chapter with a quote from Ronald Reagan, which begins “What is a conservative after all than one who conserves….” One thing’s for sure, there’s no better way to grab the attention of a devout conservative than by mentioning the Gipper. Great way to draw them in to the topic, Joe! Another effective approach he uses is to state up front that he has no intention of taking a stand one way or the other regarding “global warming, carbon footprints, or how human activity is altering geographic patterns.” Scarborough goes on to say that “those debates only distract from my larger point, which is that now is the time for American conservatives to go green” (99).

Joe argues that “despite the misuse of the environment to promote a radical agenda, now is the time for conservatives to claim the cause of conservation….Why? Because it is both morally right and politically smart” (101). I couldn’t agree with him more! This is exactly what I have been trying to tell my fellow Republicans, though mostly to no avail. But then again, I’m just an ambitious college student, therefore I guess they think that I don’t have enough life experience/knowledge to know what I’m talking about. However, since Joe has a pretty impressive resume, including former congressman representing the first district of Florida, it is my hope that our fellow GOPers will read his book with an open mind, consider his points, and finally come to embrace his views on conservation. Regardless of whether or not our political cohorts will actually step up and join our cause, I applaud Scarborough for his well-versed arguments and his efforts to bring others onboard.

On a related note, Joe also discusses how John McCain’s pro-environment values, once reflected in his senate voting record, were forced to take a backseat after he secured the GOP presidential nomination. “When winning the hearts of his party’s true believers required a shift on the issue, John McCain forgot he was an environmentalist” (106). Scarborough urges a need for this to change, and reminds his readers that if members of today’s Republican Party would stop and trace their roots back to the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, they would realize that conservation has not always been an unpopular concept in the GOP. And when it comes to voter opinion regarding the issue, he points to his own experience as a “green” congressman: “I doubt I ever lost a vote on the right for my environmental stance. But I certainly picked up moderate voters en masse” (110).

Well, with that, I'm still not quite halfway finished with the book (although it's going to be awfully tough for the rest of it to compare to chapter 3 in my opinion, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it nonetheless), but I just had to stop and share my excitement/echo Joe's points/cheer him on while the material was still fresh in my mind. Now, I'm off to resume my reading with chapter 4! :) As always, thanks for reading and please visit your local bookstore to pick up a copy of The Last Best Hope, and when you finish reading it, share it with a friend so the message will be spread far & wide, and then we can get our party back on track!

Well-known Economist Offers Advice For “Winning Back Prosperity”

Last evening, Wall Street Journal economist and editor, Stephen Moore, warned a gathering of several hundred college students about the “axis of evil."

However, he was not implicating the threat of nuclear attacks or terrorist activity from Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Instead, he urged a pressing need to defeat the health care, cap & trade, and card check bills-- “three most dreadful pieces of legislation”--that are presently before Congress.

These keynote remarks were directed at an attentive audience of conservative students that filled the grand ballroom of George Washington University’s Marvin Center. The banquet concluded a full day of events that kicked off the beginning of the Young America’s Foundation’s 31^st Annual National Conservative Student Conference.

The conference brings together college students from across the country, and even a handful of international students, to the nation’s capital in order to train them to uphold the conservative movement by spreading its ideals throughout their respective college campuses. Speakers such as Moore provide critiques of liberal policies and aim to motivate students to action.

In his address, titled “Winning Back Prosperity,” Moore discussed the history and implications of the current economic crisis. He even pointed a finger at Republicans of the Bush administration era for squandering away the $200 billion surplus that had been accumulated by 2000 as a result of the effective budgetary policies of the 1994 Republican Revolution. He suggested that Republicans are in disfavor with voters today because “they were supposed to give us limited government, but instead they decided to spend money like drunken sailors."

Moore also took this opportunity to make a case for tax reform, complementing his speech with various charts, graphs, and economic statistics. In order to provide an illustration to demonstrate his point that the rich pay more than their fair share in taxes, Moore presented a relevant scenario to the students.

“Let’s use tonight’s dinner as an example. So let’s say I split this room in half and everyone sitting on the left side of the podium makes up the rich 1% of the tax bracket and all of you on the right side are in the bottom half of the tax bracket. Then, if I divided the bill between you based on the current tax system, the group on my left would have to pay 97% of the tab, while those of you on my right would only have to pay 3% of the whole bill.”

He wrapped up his speech by offering three suggestions for fixing the economy. He called for an 18% flat tax in which everyone, regardless of income bracket, would pay a fixed rate of 18% on income. Second, he encouraged a cap on government spending, and his final proposition—followed by cheers from obvious Ron Paul supporters in the crowd—is for the US to return to the gold standard.

Attendees showed their support with a standing ovation following his remarks.

In addition to Moore, other notable speakers scheduled to address conference attendees this week include Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rich Lowry, Monica Crowley, and Ann Coulter.

Coming Down to the Home Stretch...

It certainly doesn't feel like 2 whole weeks have passed since I wrote that last post, but alas, my summer in D.C. has dwindled down to its final week. As far as progress on my list goes, my biggest accomplishment has been finally venturing to the Newseum. As expected, this news junkie was not disappointed! It was definitely worth the $18 admission fee (with valid student ID).

While many of the goals on my list remain unfulfilled, here are a few activities that I've completed over the past 2 weeks in addition to the ones I had originally intended:

• Dined at Froggy Bottom

• Enjoyed a late dinner at Utopia Bar & Grill while soaking in the ambiance and listening to some phenomenal live jazz musicians!!!

• Dined at Jackey Cafe in Chinatown
• Nats vs. Cubs game (7/19/09)
• Went dancing at Lima and Lotus
• Dined at Capitol City Brewing Company
• Attended Michelle Malkin's book promotion event at the NPC
• Dined at Mayur Kabab House
• Attended a service at Reston Bible Church
• Dined at Lucia's Italian Ristorante in Herndon

Despite the way that it looks, I promise that my life doesn't entirely revolve around eating out, but it's so hard to resist when there are so many enticing options to choose from! Anyway, as far as this week goes, tonight's plan is to walk over to the Mall with friends to Screen on the Green where On The Waterfront will be playing. I'm pretty excited as I hear that it's quite a classic movie (not to mention the fact that it will be one more thing to mark off my list! :) Well, on that note, I guess it's time to get back to work. Have a wonderful week ya'll! :)