Letter from the unemployed :)

Wow, how time flies…I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I last wrote! I finished my finals on the 21st and traveled to Dubai a couple of hours after my history final (In fact, I finished up my very last research paper in the airport—with people staring suspiciously at me thinking I was a VIP or alternatively a spy).

So what have I been up to since I came back? Well, mostly catching up on all the movies and books I missed out on reading the last four years. I am now officially addicted to One Tree Hill and Prison Break :) I was supposed to travel to Kuwait but my plans were postponed to next week so I’ve basically enjoyed lazing around and have decided to continue doing absolutely nothing until after Graduation.

Speaking of graduation, I was nominated for the Parent’s Association Cup, which is a really big honor since only 4 or 5 graduating seniors out of around 400 get nominated. The cup goes to the graduating senior who has managed to participate in a big number of activities and still maintain a high GPA. So…who knows?

Our cap and gown photos have been postponed to February second, but I’m off to AUC tomorrow to get fitted for them and to submit my proposed graduation speech. I’m not too sure how good it is, but even if it’s not accepted, at least I know I made the effort.

So, my plans have solidified slightly since I last wrote. I’ve decided to start working as an English reporter, and I was trying to figure out if I’d prefer working in a magazine such as Egypt Today or in a newspaper. Today I had a job shadowing experience with The Daily Star, Egypt’s only independent English daily newspaper, and that cinched it for me. The experience I’d get from working in a daily is so much more than what I’d get working in a monthly.

The entire day I was basically grinning at how perfect this job seems for me and how much I’d enjoy doing it. We got to follow Mr. Firas Al-Atraqchi, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper (only for some reason he’s just called ‘the editor’), and got a chance to talk to a lot of different people who work there. And coincidentally, a lot of the people on the staff worked on the Caravan at some point, usually as editor-in-chief. Insha’Allah one day they’ll be just as proud as having worked in Dimensions :)

If anything though, the day showed me how important extra-curricular activities are when applying for a job—it’s not just your major and your GPA that count. I thought that majoring in Business but applying for a job in journalism was going to be difficult, but it turns out that a lot of people work in jobs unrelated to their majors. I may decide to do my masters in mass communication later on if I feel that I’m 100% committed to the journalism field, so that will hopefully fill in any blanks I have. In any case, I’m planning to take the GMAT soon.

So I’m going to apply to the Daily Star, and hopefully I’ll get the job. I’ll keep you updated as usual…

Salam Alaykum,
Ethar

PS: I have an article coming out in Det Frie Ord (The Free Word), a magazine in Denmark next month on my personal reflections on the cartoon crisis…go me