On 2 November 2012, I participated in an info session on the law school application process. I count this as a career workshop since my goal is to go to Law School and become a lawyer.
Since I have no family members that are lawyers or went to law school I found this particular event incredibly eye opening and instructive. I would have never realized how incredibly difficult it would be for me to apply and choose the proper law school since so many offer many different things.
The process of the entire LSAC application completed made me incredibly confused but in the end I left feeling much more prepared and excited to begin the process. I'm not sure I would have been able to do the process without some outside assistance or at least understand what exactly I was supposed to do.
I still have a few semesters before I have to begin the process as I have yet to still take the LSAT but overall it helped me understand the type of scores I will be needing in order to get into the Law schools I'd like to go to. This particular event was by far the most influential for me and assisted me in preparing myself to succeed in the process.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Interviewing and Professional Dress
On October 3rd, I took part in the webinar called Interviewing & Professional Dress. I had never participated in an webinar and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It touched base on the typical advise that is given for an interview such as:
Answering Questions
Different types of interviews [style v. group]
How to Dress
New skills today for interviewing
Preparation for impressing
I was solidified in some aspects I already knew and I learned about some new things that I had not realized such as new skills in today's society. The webinar did a great job explaining each of the topics and made me much more interested in involving myself in career workshops at ASU. Had it not been for this assignment I am not sure I would have ever discovered how helpful ASU was with assisting it's students in enhancing their chances at future careers.
It touched base on the typical advise that is given for an interview such as:
Answering Questions
Different types of interviews [style v. group]
How to Dress
New skills today for interviewing
Preparation for impressing
I was solidified in some aspects I already knew and I learned about some new things that I had not realized such as new skills in today's society. The webinar did a great job explaining each of the topics and made me much more interested in involving myself in career workshops at ASU. Had it not been for this assignment I am not sure I would have ever discovered how helpful ASU was with assisting it's students in enhancing their chances at future careers.
One on Ones
The final week of my internship was the most difficult. I was ready to return home to my friends and family in AZ but in the same respect I had gotten used to routine and the way of life in the city.
My internship allowed me to meet with both my Supervisor and the Assistant Director on my work throughout my internship. Overall I learned that for never having had any experience directly with policy work, that I was able to learn as I wrote and did an overall good job. I was able to look at areas of improvement throughout my time and was able to see that I was very innovative in my persuasive writing to get approval by attorneys for action based upon their clients.
It made me much more confident in my area of career interest and helped me notice areas in which I could improve. I would highly encourage that you ask your supervisor for feedback. In many cases you end up learning that what you're involved in is really the area for you. On top of this, I would highly encourage participating in an internship too. I learned so much from my time at OFAC and it has solidified my decision to return to DC next summer and involve myself more in government whether at the Treasury or some other area of government work.
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
The one aspect I enjoyed about my internship was the it opened my eyes to what the Treasury Department did and involved itself in. Perhaps I was the only person but I never realized how involved they were within the Terrorism field.
It's because of my internship that I've come back much more interested in Foreign Policy and Intelligence. From my countless lunches with a wide array of other interns I learned how involved the Treasury Department is involved in the field.
Some of my friends that are still working there are involved with information on narcotic traffickers and are involved with conducting research on banks in the US to ensure that they are not knowingly or unknowingly dealing with a Terrorist group. This involves a lot of research and behind the scenes work. Overall working there has inspired a new focus and interest in my studies.
It's because of my internship that I've come back much more interested in Foreign Policy and Intelligence. From my countless lunches with a wide array of other interns I learned how involved the Treasury Department is involved in the field.
Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence:
Marshals the Department’s intelligence and enforcement
functions to safeguard the financial system against illicit use and combat
rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction
proliferators, money launderers, drug kingpins and other national security
threats.
·
Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA)
– member of the U.S. Intelligence community; responsible for receipt, analysis,
collation and dissemination of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence
information related to operation and responsibilities of Treasury (economic,
political and security issues.)
·
Office of Terrorism and Financial Crimes
(TFFC) – develops strategies to deploy the full range of financial
authorities to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, etc., domestically
and abroad.
·
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign
policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries,
terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Some of my friends that are still working there are involved with information on narcotic traffickers and are involved with conducting research on banks in the US to ensure that they are not knowingly or unknowingly dealing with a Terrorist group. This involves a lot of research and behind the scenes work. Overall working there has inspired a new focus and interest in my studies.
Research
I've always been known to be an overachiever at times so when I realized that my internship would not involve any outside research I was both ecstatic and slightly disappointed. I figured that with the type of people that were surrounding me, I could be of great assistance to them and at the same time come out improving my abilities.
I decided to involve myself a bit more and during our meet the faculty brunch I decided to touch base with some people that worked in Licensing and offer my assistance. One particular person allowed me to gather some information for them. I'm not at liberty to discuss what they were collecting research for but it was by far one of my most interesting weeks. On top of finishing my cases I was able to do some research on different countries and their economic levels.
The type of information and the type of people located at the Treasury are incredibly amazing. I learned a great deal of new ways to adequately conduct research and I learned how to analyze it in a different manner than what I thought. Ultimately the amount of research that I collected I will not know how the final product will look since it will only stay within the Treasury, but I'd like to think that whatever I contributed will be put to good use and that I made a difference in some manner.
I decided to involve myself a bit more and during our meet the faculty brunch I decided to touch base with some people that worked in Licensing and offer my assistance. One particular person allowed me to gather some information for them. I'm not at liberty to discuss what they were collecting research for but it was by far one of my most interesting weeks. On top of finishing my cases I was able to do some research on different countries and their economic levels.
The type of information and the type of people located at the Treasury are incredibly amazing. I learned a great deal of new ways to adequately conduct research and I learned how to analyze it in a different manner than what I thought. Ultimately the amount of research that I collected I will not know how the final product will look since it will only stay within the Treasury, but I'd like to think that whatever I contributed will be put to good use and that I made a difference in some manner.
Secret Service & The Mysterious Package
Work became pretty routine within a couple of weeks of beginning so naturally anything out of the ordinary is incredibly detectable within seconds. The amount of security at the OFAC building is incredibly intense regardless of the fact it itself is of high importance but the fact that it is right near the White House creates a bigger reason for there to be security.
One particular morning while we were working on some projects, we all received e-mails that we were not to leave the building due to a mysterious package that was left in the park near the White House. I'm not sure if it was naive of me or rather ignorance in the fact that I just received the e-mail and went on with my day as if nothing was wrong. After all.... we were in a very safe building.
Looking back on that thought process, I completed a lot of the necessary work that was given to me but I realized not a single person let it phase them either. To work in a place that close to the White House and let along the type of work that they do, it must be something that they understand and are accustomed to. My thought process was that if it were that big of a threat they would put in effect the proper procedure to secure the building and move us.
It made me think back to how that must have been on September 11, 2001. I can't imagine how incredibly scary and difficult working so close to the White House and the Capitol could have been.
One particular morning while we were working on some projects, we all received e-mails that we were not to leave the building due to a mysterious package that was left in the park near the White House. I'm not sure if it was naive of me or rather ignorance in the fact that I just received the e-mail and went on with my day as if nothing was wrong. After all.... we were in a very safe building.
Looking back on that thought process, I completed a lot of the necessary work that was given to me but I realized not a single person let it phase them either. To work in a place that close to the White House and let along the type of work that they do, it must be something that they understand and are accustomed to. My thought process was that if it were that big of a threat they would put in effect the proper procedure to secure the building and move us.
It made me think back to how that must have been on September 11, 2001. I can't imagine how incredibly scary and difficult working so close to the White House and the Capitol could have been.
Treasury and the 4th of July
There are many pros and cons to working in a government agency and during a holiday.
Firstly it meant the 4th of July was off and I got lucky and my supervisor gave me that 4th and the 5th off unlike most of the other interns that were with me in D.C. in Capital Scholars. That was the exciting part, the not so exciting portion was that I had to finish a large amount of cases in order to enjoy this luxury.
From the Monday morning I stepped into work the intern and I that shared the office kept receiving a new case about every thirty minutes. If there was any time to be grateful for being able to multi-task and get work done in an efficient manner it was then. The process is interesting. My supervisor sends us cases through the online software and it is our responsibility to get through as many cases as possible. In many cases it is our responsibility to print out the work, analyze and make comments and then upload our new documents to send back to her. What's not mentioned is that in most cases the specific case can be up to 10 pages long and involve over five types of documents that are supplemental.
Once the documents are received by our supervisor she must look over them and sometimes she either asks us to edit a few things or she asks us to send it on to her supervisor to finalize the case. Leading up to the 4th of July, I had never hated a 9-5 job quite as much as that particular day. I would go to get lunch in the cafeteria and bring it back and work the entire time. When it was finally the 4th of July, I thoroughly enjoyed my break.
Firstly it meant the 4th of July was off and I got lucky and my supervisor gave me that 4th and the 5th off unlike most of the other interns that were with me in D.C. in Capital Scholars. That was the exciting part, the not so exciting portion was that I had to finish a large amount of cases in order to enjoy this luxury.
From the Monday morning I stepped into work the intern and I that shared the office kept receiving a new case about every thirty minutes. If there was any time to be grateful for being able to multi-task and get work done in an efficient manner it was then. The process is interesting. My supervisor sends us cases through the online software and it is our responsibility to get through as many cases as possible. In many cases it is our responsibility to print out the work, analyze and make comments and then upload our new documents to send back to her. What's not mentioned is that in most cases the specific case can be up to 10 pages long and involve over five types of documents that are supplemental.
Once the documents are received by our supervisor she must look over them and sometimes she either asks us to edit a few things or she asks us to send it on to her supervisor to finalize the case. Leading up to the 4th of July, I had never hated a 9-5 job quite as much as that particular day. I would go to get lunch in the cafeteria and bring it back and work the entire time. When it was finally the 4th of July, I thoroughly enjoyed my break.
Why I like D.C.
My favorite part about being in Washington, D.C. has to be the scenery. Although the humidity is incredibly difficult to initially get used to, I will find any excuse to be outside and enjoy the city.
I have kayaked in the Potomac, ran to all the memorials, traveled to Virginia, taken a lunch cruise, rode a bike to Maryland and just walked all over the city. Every adventure and new experience has been an amazing event.
Each day after I return from work I grab a bite to eat, change out and relax for a few minutes and weather permitting I go out for a run. I try and change my route and distance each time to be able to explore and see new things. The best part about being in D.C., is that everyone is outside and running/jogging/walking. I met so many nice and interesting people on my runs and there was always a smile on their face.
My favorite moments would be when I had the energy to go on morning runs. For a city that truly never sleeps it was by far the most exciting and interesting time of the day to run. To see the sun peak up and see the city awake is something that only few can really learn to appreciate. Those moments and the scenic pictures in my mind will always be with me.
The best thing to do I learned is to go to the Memorial sites late night early morning. There was one night a group of us did just that. In many cases the memorial sites are packed with tourists and impossible to really appreciate but going at this hour was amazing as hardly any people were around. The lights that are set up at each site are also incredibly amazing to just sit back and appreciate. The only downside or suggestion I would make... bring bugspray. You also get to enjoy all the fireflies that are out late at night.
I have kayaked in the Potomac, ran to all the memorials, traveled to Virginia, taken a lunch cruise, rode a bike to Maryland and just walked all over the city. Every adventure and new experience has been an amazing event.
Each day after I return from work I grab a bite to eat, change out and relax for a few minutes and weather permitting I go out for a run. I try and change my route and distance each time to be able to explore and see new things. The best part about being in D.C., is that everyone is outside and running/jogging/walking. I met so many nice and interesting people on my runs and there was always a smile on their face.
My favorite moments would be when I had the energy to go on morning runs. For a city that truly never sleeps it was by far the most exciting and interesting time of the day to run. To see the sun peak up and see the city awake is something that only few can really learn to appreciate. Those moments and the scenic pictures in my mind will always be with me.
The best thing to do I learned is to go to the Memorial sites late night early morning. There was one night a group of us did just that. In many cases the memorial sites are packed with tourists and impossible to really appreciate but going at this hour was amazing as hardly any people were around. The lights that are set up at each site are also incredibly amazing to just sit back and appreciate. The only downside or suggestion I would make... bring bugspray. You also get to enjoy all the fireflies that are out late at night.
Relations in the Government
In Political Science, on the news, in the newspaper and online you hear about the intergovernmental relations and how they all must work together for a common goal.
I had a unique opportunity through Capital Scholars to go to the National Defense University to do a simulation regarding all head of the state and all of the government agencies and the office of the President of the United States. It is much more difficult than what people on the outside seem to think. Each agency and group has a specific goal and intention in mind when making a decision and each of them is different from the other. It is impossible for everyone to come to a consensus on what decision to make because it will affect every facet of the decision in different ways.
While I was at the Treasury, we had to deal with a lot of agency cohesion. In many cases though it was mostly negative and impossible to do. We had to deal with the State Department a lot and what they were more focused on in regards to a certain issue was not necessarily our concern and vice-versa. It made it difficult to make a decision on something that was time sensitive. When I arrived at my internship, there was a case given to me that they had been working on for at least a year but because it had to involve the State Department it involved a lot of people at different levels.
I would have been very frustrated with the time response had I not had the opportunity to understand why and how it was so difficult to make a decision in regards to different agencies.
Meetings
So part of my internship requires me to sit in on weekly meetings. It's called brown bag lunch meetings and falls on Fridays when they encourage us to bring in sack lunches. It is a very cool and interesting experience because not only does it involve the interns but the Assistant Director of Licensing and everyone else on the floor meets and discusses a wide variety of subject matters.
They're typically Fridays to give many people a break from their work and interact with others. The one aspect I really enjoyed about OFAC is that everyone is very friendly and involved. The Treasury is working through a new system on their computers so most of the Fridays incorporated conversation regarding how our experience with the new software was. I really enjoyed my internship because they made it a point to ask the interns how their experience was and what we would like to work more on.
On top of those Friday sack lunch meetings every once a month we met with the Director of Licensing and every other high ranking official and were able to sit in on the meetings. I thought that this involvement was very rare in a government agency but I truly enjoyed the opportunity it gave us interns. It was the one time where one second I would be taking notes for my supervisor and then the Director would say that we were going to cover a secret topic and all notebooks would disappear.
The best part of the meetings had to be that they involved the interns in every way possible.
They're typically Fridays to give many people a break from their work and interact with others. The one aspect I really enjoyed about OFAC is that everyone is very friendly and involved. The Treasury is working through a new system on their computers so most of the Fridays incorporated conversation regarding how our experience with the new software was. I really enjoyed my internship because they made it a point to ask the interns how their experience was and what we would like to work more on.
On top of those Friday sack lunch meetings every once a month we met with the Director of Licensing and every other high ranking official and were able to sit in on the meetings. I thought that this involvement was very rare in a government agency but I truly enjoyed the opportunity it gave us interns. It was the one time where one second I would be taking notes for my supervisor and then the Director would say that we were going to cover a secret topic and all notebooks would disappear.
The best part of the meetings had to be that they involved the interns in every way possible.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Certificates
The coolest thing about working at the Treasury Department is that I'm required to receive training and understand security type of processes that the Department uses.
Throughout my time at OFAC, I was required to take at least 5 different tests throughout my internship. Now don't get me wrong, some of those were down right boring and time consuming but overall it was very interesting to go through. Some of the classes were in person and the others were online and required me to take online tests shortly after going through the lecture.
In the end I left with three certificates to my name in the following:
Intelligence Community Information Systems Security
Culture of Privacy Awareness
Classified Information Debriefing
As with most government jobs, there were a deep set of protocols that we were required to know and understand. Now much of what I took away in regards to security and training happened as I was doing work and talking to my supervisor and the coworkers around me.
Throughout my time at OFAC, I was required to take at least 5 different tests throughout my internship. Now don't get me wrong, some of those were down right boring and time consuming but overall it was very interesting to go through. Some of the classes were in person and the others were online and required me to take online tests shortly after going through the lecture.
In the end I left with three certificates to my name in the following:
Intelligence Community Information Systems Security
Culture of Privacy Awareness
Classified Information Debriefing
As with most government jobs, there were a deep set of protocols that we were required to know and understand. Now much of what I took away in regards to security and training happened as I was doing work and talking to my supervisor and the coworkers around me.
(Future) Careers intertwined
One aspect of my internship that I absolutely loved more than anything was that not only did I have the opportunity to do some very important work for a government internship but I was able to do that work and connect with lawyers across the United States.
Many of the clients that we dealt with in OFAC were represented by attorneys and most of my days required for me to call and and discuss areas of the cases with them. It was by far the most stressful but most eye opening experience I could have had the opportunity to be a part of. I had a new perspective to government work and with lawyers from across the country.
The most interesting thing for me would be that the attorneys or their paralegals had absolutely no idea I was just and intern, which made me feel that much more important. It was necessary for us to make sure that either the people that had sent in license requests were either represented or explicitly stated that they were representing themselves. On top of having to call attorneys we also had to come in contact with the actual clients.
The portion in which contacting the clients was always the most difficult. The clients we dealt with were in most cases immigrants and could not speak English too well. This instilled in me a great deal more patience and much more understanding for a different culture. Language barriers were by far the hardest portion of the internship.
Overall my experience and day to day duties made for an interesting outlook. I have always known that I was either going to work in government or become a lawyer, so to be able to interact and be a part of both at the age of 20 was exciting. It definitely did not make my decision as to what I really wanted to pursue any easier though.
Many of the clients that we dealt with in OFAC were represented by attorneys and most of my days required for me to call and and discuss areas of the cases with them. It was by far the most stressful but most eye opening experience I could have had the opportunity to be a part of. I had a new perspective to government work and with lawyers from across the country.
The most interesting thing for me would be that the attorneys or their paralegals had absolutely no idea I was just and intern, which made me feel that much more important. It was necessary for us to make sure that either the people that had sent in license requests were either represented or explicitly stated that they were representing themselves. On top of having to call attorneys we also had to come in contact with the actual clients.
The portion in which contacting the clients was always the most difficult. The clients we dealt with were in most cases immigrants and could not speak English too well. This instilled in me a great deal more patience and much more understanding for a different culture. Language barriers were by far the hardest portion of the internship.
Overall my experience and day to day duties made for an interesting outlook. I have always known that I was either going to work in government or become a lawyer, so to be able to interact and be a part of both at the age of 20 was exciting. It definitely did not make my decision as to what I really wanted to pursue any easier though.
Advice for DC
So for one of my random posts I decided to write about a few tips to have before coming to DC...
#1: Everything goes down at happy hour, therefore, be 21 or over before working in DC
Worst part about my internship is that I'm 20..... while most of my fellow interns are 21 or older... and all the mixers and parties happen after work. So when they invite me... I have to be that person that says I can go but can't drink or go out with them late at night to the clubs and bars.
#2: If you're not a morning person, make coffee your best friend
Fortunately for me... getting up early for the NROTC made me accustomed to waking up early and going to CrossFit every morning before work made my morning tolerable. I can't say the same for my suitemates or coworkers though. The whole saying that Starbucks is on every corner.... is most definitely true in DC. I never was an avid Starbucks drinker but something about DC has made my morning involve Starbucks... because quite literally EVERYONE has one in hand. The whole 9 - 5 job is also a new aspect to me. I now have much more respect for my parent's and what they had to deal with while my sister and I were growing up and them being absolutely exhausted after a day at work.
#1: Everything goes down at happy hour, therefore, be 21 or over before working in DC
Worst part about my internship is that I'm 20..... while most of my fellow interns are 21 or older... and all the mixers and parties happen after work. So when they invite me... I have to be that person that says I can go but can't drink or go out with them late at night to the clubs and bars.
#2: If you're not a morning person, make coffee your best friend
Fortunately for me... getting up early for the NROTC made me accustomed to waking up early and going to CrossFit every morning before work made my morning tolerable. I can't say the same for my suitemates or coworkers though. The whole saying that Starbucks is on every corner.... is most definitely true in DC. I never was an avid Starbucks drinker but something about DC has made my morning involve Starbucks... because quite literally EVERYONE has one in hand. The whole 9 - 5 job is also a new aspect to me. I now have much more respect for my parent's and what they had to deal with while my sister and I were growing up and them being absolutely exhausted after a day at work.
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