CAB Christmas Market

I just had a series of heart palpitations. After writing about various Christmas markets for the Travel Tattler, the monthly travel newsletter that I edit for my internship at Let's Travel!, I have fallen for Christmas markets. And I've fallen hard. I've covered them for two months now and they seem Utopian: people gathered together, twinkle lights, warm food, hand-crafted gifts and live music. visitBerlin.de sums it up best; above a photograph of happy people mulling around a beautiful statue reads "Christmas Markets: Sweet Gingerbread and Hot Mulled Wine."

Excuse me, when is the next flight to Berlin?

You can imagine my sheer joy when I learned that CAB, Fordham's Campus Activities Board, is hosting a Christmas market on campus. Really, an actual Christmas market with vendors, music, Santa, and probably even lights of some kind. I will get gifts for everyone (Asian Cultural Exchange table, here I come!). I will  belt out carols like I'm in the shower. And, to top it all off, I will eat Belgian waffles topped with everything.

My friends, here comes a reason for the season.

Luck O' the Irish

In the spring semester of 2010, all my friends were lining up internships for the summer and fall. I immediately went into panic mode. I had barely just decided my major, never mind trying to get an internship which correlated to it. I immediately sent out e-mails to the department heads of History and Irish Studies. Luckily, both professors e-mailed me back many options and both suggested that I look into interning at the American Irish Historical Society, which reopened in March 2008 after a two year restoration and renovation. In addition, the Irish Studies department e-mailed me a list of scholarships in order to study abroad and research over the summer. I instantly started setting up interviews for internships and filling out scholarship applications.

After the interview process, I finally received word that I had received a spot as an intern for both over the summer and throughout the fall semester. The Society’s main function is to inform the world of the achievements of Irish Americans. Located across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the society has quickly turned into a national center of scholarship and culture. On my first day, I arrived and noted that I was not the only Ram there. The only other two interns were both Fordham students as well, one was from FCLC and the other was an alumni from FCRH.

Shortly after starting at the American Irish Historical Society, I received an e-mail from the Institute of Irish Studies at Fordham University, which alerted me that I had won 2010 Irish Language Scholarship, along with Colleen Taylor (FCRH 2012). The scholarship was funded in conjunction with the Irish government sent me and Colleen Taylor to study the Irish Language at the National University of Ireland, Galway from July 13th to August 15th.

We studied at the University’s well-known Irish Language Centre (Árus Mháirtín Uí Chadhain) in An Cheathrú Rua (Carraroe) in Connemara, Co. Galway. Connemara is one of Ireland’s largest Gaeltachtaí (Irish speaking districts) and it is vibrant and endowed with rich folk tradition. Colleen and I explored many of the aspects of the folk tradition through a series of guest lectures held every night. The town of An Cheathrú Rua in the heart of the Connemara Gaeltacht is the ideal location for learning Irish in its most natural environment. I am extremely grateful for both department heads at Fordham for helping me make my summer as exciting as possible.

For more information about internships and scholarships, visit the Institute of Irish Studies site!

Internships // SELF Magazine

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Yesterday, Career Services held a job and internship fair in our student center. As one of the top business, communcations, technology and medical hubs of the universe, the possibilities for internships in NYC are somewhat endless. I spoke to a couple of representatives from book publishing companies and handed them my resume in the hopes of lining something up for the summer. Planning ahead of time is something you try master as a college student.

While I'm taking the spring semester off to soak in one of my last at Fordham (okay, I'm being dramatic, I still have 2 full semesters left but still...I can already foresee how much I'm going to miss it here!), I did manage to intern three days of the week last semester. Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I took the Metro North and the five minute walk to Times Square to my internship at SELF Magazine. I helped the assistant accessories editor with sample trafficking and editing. Not only did I get to see (and keep) some awesome stuff, but I learned a lot about the editorial side of the industry that I didn't know before. I'm not sure what the future holds for me as far as magazine work is concerned. It's incredibly fast-paced and only for certain individuals. But regardless, my experience at SELF was definitely a learning one. I made great connections and still keep in touch with my boss, who was the coolest mentor I could possibly ask for. I even got to go on a very creative photoshoot for beauty and saw a completely different aspect of the magazine. One of my fellow interns was even featured in the January issue of SELF in an article about finding the perfect pair of jeans! How sick is that?



Whatever profession you're interested in, you'll be able to explore and decide if its right or not right for you through internships in the city. They are accessible in so many ways. You can go to our Career Services offices or find one on your own (like I did). Fordham stresses learning outside the classroom and there's no better way to learn about yourself, your work ethic, and your abilities than tackling an internship like so many of us do, head on. (Plus, sometimes they lead to full time jobs and what could be better than that?)
 
--Posted by Alex McGinn, FCRH 11'