I normally keep a busy agenda—but in the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to say afloat with this hectic and demanding schedule.

Beside my internship, Monday programming and Thursday night classes for my program, I’ve taken advantage of D.C.’s various volunteer opportunities. Since I love to write, and I’m looking to get the most experience possible, I took on the position of editor for the Ford Motor Company Global Scholar’s newsletter. Entitled “Care for the World,” our tri-semester online newsletter features articles by the Ford Fellows regarding international affairs, government and the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. As editor of the newsletter, I collect and recruit students to write about their passions or concerns. I edit drafts, compose my own articles and send them to my advisor to be put on the Ford website. (View “Care for the World” at www.twc.edu/ford!)

Outside of our program, I joined an Israeli-Palestinian peace advocacy project. Every other Friday night, about 15 students and I get together to study the on-going conflict and prepare ourselves for lobbying. In late November, we’ll be on Capitol Hill talking with Senators and Reps., pushing for a two-state solution and pre-1967 borders in the region. Firstly, however, our group stresses the discontinuation of Israeli settlement expansion. The conflict is very twisted and so deeply rooted, built up from years without a bona fide agreement for peace. And the longer the solution is put off, the greater hatred is propelled. Actually, it’s very sad: a resolution should have been made years ago. If something isn’t done soon, I fear an escalation that will bite Palestine, Israel and the U.S. in the butt. To prevent an all-out “holy war,” we need a solution now.

Speaking of the Middle East, I think it’d be cool to mention I’m currently taking Arabic class in D.C. as well. Upon learning that Arabic was considered one of about 10 “critical” languages for businesses and government relations, my roommate Elif and I set out to find a beginning Arabic class in Washington. We visited the Middle East Institute in early September to inquire about classes. The next thing I knew I was enrolled in an eight-hour per week intensive language study. Since mid-September—and continuing through early November—I spend about four hours on Saturday and Sunday in a five-person Arabic class right off Dupont Circle. The very first day of class, my teacher claimed Arabic was easy to learn. “You write what you hear, and there are no tricks like English,” he said. Posh! It’s anything but easy. The sounds are different; you have to lean a new alphabet and the four ways to write each letter, so on so forth. It’s difficult, it’s intense, but I thoroughly enjoy studying the language.

Although I’m currently in a worried state, with my head under water from too many plans, I couldn’t/wouldn’t give up any activity for free time. The newsletter allows me to write about things I care about, and help other students enjoy the same expression. The advocacy group is a cause I feel very passionate about, and the group is something I wouldn’t have found in my hometown. It’s a civic engagement I couldn’t find anywhere beside D.C., and for that I’m grateful for the opportunity. Likewise, I don’t regret signing on to Arabic classes. Although I’m probably the slowest learner and last to pick up new words in our class, I recognize the language will further my career and allow me to engage studies of the Middle East as I haven’t before.