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Location: Bmore for the Moment, Maryland, United States

Monday, January 10, 2005

Never Ask A Question

This was a letter I wrote in response to a Pepperdine administrator asking "how is it going". I never really liked this person so I decided to tell her the truth and to spare no expense to sound desperate. I doubt that she lost sleep over my situation but to tell you the truth I wouldn't feel too bad. I really liked this letter so I thought I would share it.....

Hello A****a,
Happy New Year. I hope your holidays went well. The weather must be awful in comparison to last year because I continue to hear of all the horror stories about the winter rains from many of the Pepperdine students. At least the rain will make everything green and lush for an extended period of time.
I regret to inform you that I cannot provide you any positive news at the moment. After spending a miserable semester in a remedial program, it appeared to me that I secured an internship during the last weeks of December. I was supposed to start the position in mid January with an investment management firm. The day of the finalization meeting, I was told by the manager that I would not be able to start the position until April. At the present time, the company is undergoing new management changes and the assignment was "put on hold" by the approval of the new executive management. Therefore, I’m back to square one. Unfortunately this was my only concrete opportunity after months of exhausting leads and submitting many resumes. Because of my inability to communicate at a fluent level, my employment opportunities seem to be limited to English speaking positions (although I’ve applied to both French and English). I will continue to pursue all options; however, I feel that I’m chasing a dream that cannot be caught.
Currently I’m in Paris because it seems to be where all the internship opportunities are located for a foreign student. At the moment I’m staying in a vacant room at a friend’s apartment. I will be forced to leave soon after her roommate arrives in about a week. I do not know what my immediate future entails causing me to have many concerns (internship, time, finances, etc...). With the weak dollar I don’t know how long I can afford to live out an internship and the supplemental income provided by an internship. As one can assume, Paris is expensive.
Anyway, needless to say I never pictured myself in this situation. Be assured that I will do the best of my ability to produce quick and efficient results. Towards the end of the week I will return to Marseille in hopes that the career resources and administrators can provide assistance, although I have little confidence in their help. Also, I will be contacting a new lead sometime Monday.
I remain optimistic that my situation will improve. However, I have a few questions for you. First, if I find an internship opportunity in a non-French speaking country, and it would be an amazing career and learning opportunity, can the internship count towards the MIB program? Secondly, what are all my remaining options at this time?

1 Comments:

Blogger Sanjiv Gajiwala said...

This is a great letter. I'm sorry that things are going as they are, but keep the faith my friend.
I would also include some of the trials with the career office - as it seems to me that they would be most responsible for some of the internship difficulties you've been having of late.
--SG

12:33 PM  

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