Post-Holiday Update--Justine

Hello, WomenNC blog readers!

These past few weeks have been equal parts pure joy, hectic movement, and plenty of work! The holiday season has been wonderful to spend with my family, and between Chanukah, Christmas, and New Years, it has certainly been a whirlwind.

However, in between seasonal baking and seeing friends, I have steadily and surely been writing pages of my research paper, due January 11^th. 

I have, unfortunately, had some ups and downs researching. Most notably, I have had a lot of trouble getting responses from my best-fit organizations. While things were moving smoothly in terms of contact before Thanksgiving and just after, the moment December 1st rolled around and finals got underway, the bumpy road began. Part of this can certainly be attributed to me having to go virtually underground to study, but communication is a two-way street, and the holidays created some trouble.

Fortunately, Leigh Sanders, my mentor Anuja, and Isabella have all been instrumental in helping me find new contacts while pursuing previously established ones. I have yet to get true responses back for my interview questions, but I have set some hard deadlines and I am confident that I will have the necessary information to plug into the rest of the paper I have already written.

I hope everyone has had a peaceful, relaxing break, and I can’t wait to see what 2015 is going to bring. Now, the CSW conference and trip to the United Nations feels extremely real. I am definitely nervous, but happy to share what I have researched and learned and gain more experience in public speaking and networking.

Until next time,

Justine