在我写这篇文章的时候, 我在看翠绿, mountainous terrain of 哥斯达黎加 get smaller and smaller as our plane gains altitude, 开始了我们回“家”纽约的旅程. We’ve just finished a weeklong field visit to the Puntarenas and San José regions of 哥斯达黎加, where we learned about issues related to sustainable development and pineapple production.
Just as everyone said it would, the semester has flown by. 这是一次疯狂而美妙的旅程. 回顾过去的三个半月, the prevailing feeling that I have experienced in every moment and day is an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
我在联合国的这个学期让我梦想成真. I first found out about the Oxy at the UN program when I was a junior in high school, right after taking my first intro to international relations course. 一年后，我申请了十大正规网赌平台. I never expected that out of the ten colleges I applied to, I would decide to become an Oxy tiger. 在我的校园访问中, 我遇到了一个女孩，她的双学位是DWA和西班牙语, 在拉丁美洲留学, 并参与了联合国的项目. 所以这是可能的, 我记得当时在想, 默默地决定我的目标是做同样的事情.
快进四年, and I was standing on the immaculate green carpet outside of the General Assembly, flanked by two of my supervisors from the Guatemalan mission. Butterflies leapt with excitement in my stomach as I watched dozens of presidents, 总理, and world leaders make their way down the hall of flags toward the General Assembly hall. It was UNGA week, the spectacular grand opening of the UN’s 72nd session of work.
UNGA week was one of the most thrilling, exhausting, and memorable experiences of my semester. 我有机会会见了几位国家元首, 包括何塞·吉列尔莫Solís里维拉(哥斯达黎加), 吉米·莫拉莱斯(危地马拉), 埃沃·莫拉莱斯(玻利维亚), 贾斯汀·特鲁多(加拿大). In between listening to General Assembly speeches with my coworkers, I had the chance to attend many high-level meetings and special events on themes such as global migration, 人口贩卖, gender equality and the protection of healthcare in armed conflict.
One of my favorite memories is attending an event on women human rights defenders, where I had the chance to hear Malala Yousafzai and her father speak about the importance of equal access to education. Another highlight was meeting indigenous environmental and human rights defenders from around the globe, 包括伯莎Zuñíga Cáceres, the daughter of assassinated Honduran activist Berta Cáceres. The opportunity to participate fully in UNGA week as an undergraduate intern was so special, 这是一次我永远不会忘记的经历.
事实证明，联合国大会周只是一个开始. I spent the next eight weeks covering the session of the Third Committee, 它讨论了社会, 文化和人权问题. 每一天, 三四个演讲嘉宾, 称为特别报告员或独立专家, 就他们的主题向委员会作了简报, followed by a structured dialogue between member states. 有时, 会议变得非常激烈, which provided for entertaining debriefs afterward with my fellow interns. My experience in the Third Committee taught me more about diplomacy and human rights than I could ever learn in a classroom, and doing all of my work in Spanish helped me improve my comprehension, 词汇和写作能力.
关于西班牙语的话题, I could not wrap up my reflection without acknowledging one of the best parts of my UN experience—working with the staff of the Guatemalan mission. 从第一天起, 我的员工让我觉得自己是团队中受欢迎的一员, 他们也不把我当实习生, 但作为同事和平等的人. Working for a small mission gave me the chance to be much more involved in everything (they even let me vote on resolutions at the end of the Third Committee, 这一点至今仍让我感到惊讶!) I feel incredibly thankful to my colleagues at the Guatemalan mission for the constant encouragement, 让我们边喝咖啡边谈心, 感谢你在长时间的会议上和我自拍, 谢谢你把重要的工作托付给我, and for helping me to grow both personally and professionally during these past few months.
Something unique about working at the UN is being constantly surrounded by intelligent, 有趣和好奇的人. My daily conversation with strangers starts something like this:
电梯里的人:你的任务是什么?
我:危地马拉!
人(困惑):危地马拉! 你是本地人吗??
我:嗯...我来自西雅图. 但我在洛杉矶上学. 我这学期在纽约. 为危地马拉使团工作.
I think that pretty much sums up the magical thing about the Kahane United Nations Program: no matter where you’re from, 或者你对什么充满激情, this program gives you the once-in-a-lifetime chance to work and study in one of the most cosmopolitan, 世界上各种各样的工作场所. Every morning, I scan my badge and walk through the delegate’s entrance into international territory. As I walk through the halls of the UN, I hear a symphony of languages around me—everyone here effortlessly speaks two, three, four or more languages. The UN brings us all together, united by a common hope for humanity. 这确实是一个与众不同的地方.
因为这个项目, 我交了来自希腊的朋友, 哥伦比亚, 巴基斯坦, 缅甸, 巴拿马, 德国, 哥斯达黎加, St. 基茨和尼维斯，埃塞俄比亚和西班牙. I have shaken hands with the Secretary General and witnessed historic Security Council discussions that will have long-standing consequences for global politics. I think I have a bit more of a grasp on how the UN system works—and every day here, I have learned just how many things I do not yet know.
I have just a few more weeks left before I will fly home and try to make sense of a life without my constant companions—my bottomless work bag, my delegate’s badge, and my more-business-than-casual clothes—before diving back into my final semester at Oxy this January. The past few months have certainly not been easy—I am not exaggerating when I say that it has taken blood (I went through three boxes of Band-援助s in my first month while getting used to wearing heels to work), 出汗(不管天气如何), 不知怎么的，我还是满头大汗地去上班了。, and tears (of all the places I have had a mental breakdown this semester, 我推荐卡塔尔酒廊(Qatar Lounge)。. I may not know what I’m doing with my life after I graduate, but I do know that I have a semester’s worth of stories to tell about my "UN days,“我也因此变得更好了.
Learn more about the Kahane United Nations Program at 十大正规网赌平台