Last Day of Internship

Today was my last day. I finished my report for jim. It was an 8 page report on an action plan that the SNP could take to promote civic awareness among 18-24 year olds. I did a report of the findings of Robert Putnam and then compared it with the statistics that have been found throughout Scotland concerning voter turnout among Scottish young adults. At the end of my report I proposed a motion to be put forward for debate in parliament and the development of a bill. The Motion was this:
Increasing civic engagement – That the Parliament acknowledges the continued decrease in voter turn-out percentages among the 18-24 age group and hereby declares an action point list to increase civic engagement among youth by instilling the following points to encourage and foster political awareness and involvement, Ii) automatic voter registration at 18 years of age, (ii) standard day for elections should be determined preferably the weekend to provide access for individuals with work schedules, and finally establishing Modern Studies courses throughout Scottish educational systems to promote political awareness and interest in the current political situations in Scotland among younger generations.
I sent off the report to Jim and he LOVED it. He loved that I proposed a motion -- he made a few minor adjustments to the motion and then prepared it to go through the right channels to be debated and voted upon. I was so excited about it. You know over the course of this internship there have been busy and slow days and I have had a few long term projects so I haven't felt like I have accomplished much -- but now looking back on what I did I feel like I have done a lot. I built a database of Scottish economic professors, I constructed a survey and sent it out to all of them with a letter written by me for Jim, I read Bowling Alone and wrote a Scottish Action Plan and I did various other clerical things. Not to mention work for Rob Gibson another MSP whom I wrote a report on the transportation system in Ireland. He sent my report out to other MSP's and used it during a debate. All in all I really feel that this internship has been beneficial to be and to those Ihavee worked with. GREAT EXPERIENCE!!

Meeting with Uni Professors

Today I went into work finished my Scottish Action Plan assessment. I didn’t get it completely finished there are some minor changes that I need to make before I send it to Liz and Jim. Wow I hope that it will be helpful in establishing a motion to promote greater civic engagement among Scottish youth. Hopefully I will hear about it after I go home, however they are going on recess so maybe it won’t be until after the recess. I left work a bit early to meet with Dr. Cowie from the University of Edinburgh. I emailed her last week about attending the University for my masters in Geosciences. I told her that I had some questions concerning the program. She emailed me back straight away informing that I could come and meet with her. So I went today at 1:00. I had to take a bus out to the King’s Buildings. When I met with Dr. Cowie she was very helpful in helping me determine if this was the program for me. She went through the various programs and what each offered and then she identified my interested and helped me to determine who would be the best professors for me to work with. There are over 100 professors in this department alone so she helped me sift through the ones that would be related to my area of focus. I feel really good about apply to the University – now I only need to things about getting funding aaahhhh!! After I went back to work and continued to work on my proposal. After work Jamie and I went to Mai Thai a Thai restaurant behind the parliament. It was amazing. That is one thing I love about living in a big city, you can always find really ethnic foods.

England vs. Sweden

Today I began the process of actually writing my report. It is really rough right now though since I just have compiled the data and some quotes. I worked on some defining the graphs and my outline and introduction. I also constructed my proposal to increase civic engagement. It was a good day and I accomplished a lot. After work the weather was horrific – typically Scotland. We all went back to the apartment and played cards for a couple hours. Then of course at 8:00 we were out the door going to the nearest pub to watch the football game. Wow was it intense. The pub was packed with people watching the game and supporting their various teams. It is always custom when entering a pub to buy a drink no matter what it is. I love the culture that surrounds the football world here in Britain although there are many negative affects from the sport specifically the World Cup. For instance, I heard on the news yesterday that domestic violence increases in the United Kingdom by 7%. The news played a call from a woman whose husband had been beating her after the recent game when he came home drunk and upset over the loss. I was appalled at the statistics that they presented. It was quite shocking.

Scottish Action Plan

I spent the whole day compiling all the quotes and notes of “Bowling Alone” the book I have spent so much time reading over the last 2 months.

Open Day at Edinburgh University

I was really apprehensive about going to the open day at Edinburgh University today I just didn’t know how it was going to go. So this morning when I was praying I had this distinct impression to meet with a lady named Connie Fox the department secretary for geosciences. On my way there I had an impression that she wasn’t going to be there. I was like come on Heavenly Father I felt like I was supposed to meet with this lady and I think she isn’t going to be there please sort something out for me. So when I got to the building of course she wasn’t there. So I was just in the hall looking at various graduate student projects when a professor came up to me and asked me if I needed anything. Well it was a direct answer to prayer and I told him what I was doing and if I could have a few moments of his time to ask him some questions. He was more than happy to invite me into his office and give me some needed guidance and direction. He first helped me understand that I was in the wrong area for my interests. I was in the Ecology area of the Geosciences and not the earth systems area. He then gave me some names of various other professors that I could meet with to help me discuss some areas of research. He was so helpful. I really felt that I was directed to him. I wrote down the names of the professors he gave me. After meeting with Dr. Williams I went back home and worked on some homework and this journal. Later on that night we went and got a kebab and took it to Amy’s birthday party we had a picnic and then played ultimate frisbee – I left a bit early because I was so excited to email some of these professors. I went to Parliament emailed Dr. Patience Cowie and then called home to my parents to tell them all the news. It was an amazing day.

Campaining and a Glasgow Stabbing!!

Last night we were invited to go to Dumbarton tomorrow to Campaign for a Scottish Nationalist Party member in his own constituency. We left this morning at 9:15 and drove out to Glasgow and then on to Dumbarton. It was about an hour and a half drive. Before arriving in Glasgow Richard, a research assistant at Parliament took us around the nice bits of Glasgow. It was beautiful with the Gothic architecture and other old buildings. He took us around the University of Glasgow and also other prominent universities in the city. It was really great to get a native of Scotland to show us parts I had never seen before. Then we drove on to Dumbarton, upon arriving there we meet up with the Candidate who took us to the SNP headquarters. We were given assignments for different areas of campaigning. At headquarters they keep detailed records of individuals’ political preferences. With the records in hand we headed off to an area of town and knocked doors. When people were home we introduced ourselves and asked them if they had been out to vote or if they intended to. If they did and did not have a ride we offered a ride to them. I was amazed at how many people were absolutely not interested in voting. We knocked on doors practically the whole day and then later on that afternoon we headed home. This was the first time that I have ever participated in “campaigning” like that. Usually in the States campaigning is quite informal and impersonal whereas here in Scotland people actually take the time to go to someone’s house and offer a ride to the nearest polling station. I almost couldn’t believe it. After we had campaigned our little hearts out we headed back to Edinburgh but before we went back we stopped in Glasgow to see some of the “dodgy” bits of town. As we went through the east part of Glasgow we were driving past a pub and saw a stabbing. It was the most horrific thing I have ever seen. There was a man and woman standing outside of a pub and he was holding a bloody knife while about ten feet in front of them stood another man and woman and he was bleeding something fierce. Blood was spilling out like it was something on a movie. Before we knew it the man had taken off his shirt and had it wrapped around his hand. His shirt was soaked in blood. I sat in the car as all of this happened feeling completely sick to my stomach. It was the most unreal thing I have ever witnessed. After that I couldn’t wait to get back home to “safe” Edinburgh. I think that I realized for the first time in my life that crime like that actually does happen. It was definitely an eye opener to life in a metropolitan area.

Preparing for Open Day at Edinburgh University

Today I spent most of the day getting researching out the porgrams at the University of Edinburgh....