#mwlblove

I spent this past spring in Washington, D.C. through USC's Semester in Washington Program.  D.C. is one of my favorite cities! The city is majestic and buzzes with political activity. 

  My internship with the Office of International Affairs in the Department of Justice was definitely the highlight of the semester. The jurisdiction of this office was large. All communication regarding criminal matters between the U.S. and the rest of the world first went to this office. Since I was selected for the South America team, I often communicated with and facilitated communication between South American justice departments, legal attaches, and U.S. law enforcement agencies. While working for the OIA I realized that I truly enjoyed the bilingual aspect to my job and appreciated that the work I performed yielded tangible results.

  After my semester in D.C., I headed back to Vermont for the summer. I served as the Economic Development Intern in the Mayor’s office of Burlington, VT. My main responsibility for the Economic Development team was progressing the Public Investment Action Plan, which will channel $5 million into the Waterfront Tax-Increment Financing district and $10 million into the Downtown Tax-Increment Financing District. The purpose of PIAP is to encourage future economic development in these two districts.  I was able to work with city experts, research regulations and public trust laws, and examine whether the project proposals for each district would be eligible, doable, and successful.

  I also served on the founding team of Emerge Vermont. Emerge Vermont is a newly formed political organization that recruits, prepares and mentors Democratic women to serve in elected and appointed office. Emerge Vermont, like its national affiliate Emerge America, is committed to helping women become effective and ethical political leaders at the local, state and national levels. I found this experience invaluable and really fun! I was able to work with incredible and impressive women leaders from around the state all summer and helped establish an organization that I believe is incredibly important.

  It was a productive, political and fun year! In Washington, D.C. and in Vermont I was able to meet powerful professional women in politics. I spoke with them about their careers, the steps they have taken, the choices they've made, and what skills helped them to get where they are today. I observed them in the U.S. Capitol and in Vermont. In each place, they were decision makers. I met a former governor, a spokeswoman, press secretaries, chiefs of staff, state representatives, campaign managers, and former mayors. These women spoke articulately about important and relevant issues. They had a vision for the future of female leaders in government. They were utterly confident in their ability to lead and supported each other. Women helping other women went without saying. Speaking with these women renewed my passion for government and public service, and also inspired me to be like them: a fearless, dynamic, and lively female leader in government.  

  #MWLBlove Caro

Have you ever been invited to a conference? Or one has come across your radar and it sounds interesting? Sign up! 

But now what? How can you maximize this experience? 

First of all--the morning you wake up, you must have this mindset: GAME TIME. 

Before the morning of the conference, you should have prepared all of this: 

1) Resumes. (cater them to the conference purpose or industry, if this is applicable). Put them in a folder and bring them to the conference. 

2) Elevator pitch. You're going to be saying this A LOT at the conference. 

3) Business cards. Have a lot in your purse, wallet, or folder. Put them in a cute case that's easy to hold and access so you can whip one out on cue :) 

4) An awesome outfit: Look good! Looking good will add to your confidence when meeting all of these new people. 

5) A list of people you want to speak with: When you arrive at the conference, and even before the morning of the conference, see if you can find a list of attendees, whether they are companies or specific names. If the list is available ahead of time, research some of the names and companies. If you get the list of attendees when you arrive, look over the whole list and circle who you would like to meet. Make a list of people you circled. 

6) Know what workshops you want to attend: Look over the workshops ahead of time. Know which workshops you would like to attend. You can base your decision on who will be speaking or hosting the workshop, who will be attending the workshop, or if the subject is genuinely interesting to you. 

During the conference, you should: 

7) Take notes in the workshops! You want to be able to ask questions and discuss the workshop with the speakers and attendees. In addition, it's always good to be able to talk about any conferences and workshops you attended in interviews and during future networking opportunities. 

8) Introduce yourself to the speakers! If the speakers were dynamic and/or if they were on your list, wait to introduce yourself and speak with them after the workshop! Even if there is a line of people--wait to introduce yourself. Have your business card and elevator pitch ready. Ask to set up a phone call or in-person meeting. Get their business card and tell them that you'll follow-up via with them evening. 

9) Maximize every opportunity: Go up and talk to as many people as possible. Find out more about them. Tell them about yourself. If you let them know what you're interested in, chances are that they might know someone for you to speak to or could even introduce you to someone at the conference. 

Now that the conference is over, what do you do? 

10) Follow-up: When you get home, send follow-up emails. Write out all of the details you can think of on the back of the business cards you got that day. Attach your resume to the emails. Set up times to meet with your new contacts while your introduction is still fresh in their minds.

Lastly, even if you're nervous, or awed by powerful people, just go for it! People are excited to meet driven, energetic, and poised young women. Many professionals go to conferences frequently, so your attendance is inevitably refreshing! 

Long gone are those days of endless hot summers, running around the neighborhood with fudgesicle stained lips until Mom and Dad call you home. Recent summers have left me feeling a bit nostalgic for those endless adventures through the Amazon--aka the backyard--and colorful balls lost to the towering trees above or the grumpy neighbor.  Summer jobs and internships consume forty hours of your week or perhaps you are stuck in school mode at summer school.  While these commitments can seem like hinderances to reliving the glories of your childhood summers, these obligations have encouraged me to take advantage of the valuable free time I have.  So, at the beginning of summer, I made a bucket list of all the different goals and activities--some professional, but mostly personal--that I wanted to complete or experience. Here is a glimpse into my personal summer diary of sorts: 

Successfully Checked off the Sumer 2013 Bucket List:

Learned How to Slolem Ski

Complete a Pinterest Art Project...or 10...

Go Skinny Dipping

Watch the sunrise at the lake

Jump off a bridge into the lake

Research future career possibilities

Host and cook a family dinner 

A few that have now translated over to my Fall 2013 Bucket List:

Read The Kite Runner

Go on a Picnic

Research future career possibilities

And a few that will just have to wait until next Summer:

learn how to park the boat

teach a clay class

road trip with the cousins to Canada 

Tips for future summer bucket lists...

Make it colorful.  Make it personal.  Make it challenging.  Make it yours!  

Now, I want to hear about your summers! :)

 While summer blockbusters Star Trek: Into Darkness, Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim all made it to the big screen, I had a chance to go behind the scenes of filmmaking by writing and co-producing a short film and interning at ImageMovers Digital, the production company of Robert Zemeckis (director of the Back to the Future series, Forrest Gump, etc.).

Both proved to be extremely rewarding and really helped me learn more about the film industry and the craft in general. As a development intern at ImageMovers, I got to read various creative materials in development or available for production, and write coverage detailing my thoughts on the script or novel’s quality and producibility. Not only that, but interns were encouraged to talk to the executives and share our thoughts about different projects. The entire experience was absolutely surreal — from driving onto the Universal Studios lot each day and watching people pass by on the Backlot Tour trams to meeting Zemeckis himself and having him sign my Hoverboard phone case (crossing my fingers that the real deal is out by 2015!).

Simultaneously, I also had the opportunity to make good use of the whole Business- major-Screenwriting-minor shtick by writing and co-producing a short film titled Z-MOVIE. Presented by Delta Kappa Alpha (the cinema fraternity at USC), Z-MOVIE is an action-packed ZomCom that follows four zombies as they try to evade ruthless hunters and find the elusive cure to become human again. Taking inspiration from works such as Warm Bodies and the musical Wicked, I wanted to explore the zombie genre from a new perspective — one that identified with the zombies and their own struggle for survival. It was a very long (and sometimes stressful) process that involved fundraising over $10,000, scouting locations, and executing intense special effects — all of which helped to reinforce the idea that filmmaking is the ultimate collaborative art form.

These experiences have really shown me how lucky I am to be in Los Angeles and all the great opportunities that are out there. Whether you’re interning or doing your own projects with friends, there are so many ways to make summer vacation fun and productive. I am so incredibly grateful for getting this taste of Hollywood, and I can’t wait to get some more. 

-Sydney Bernardo