Author: Maria Osorio

After the first snooze on my alarm at 5:45 a.m. I force myself to get up and get ready to hit the gym.  As I make coffee and wake up my husband (fellow MIIS’er Chris Danger Puder) I think about what the day ahead of me entails.  Chris and I haul it to the gym early in an effort to miss the after-work rush.  6 a.m. at Vida Fitness on U-Street is a hustle and bustle of young professionals working out their stress before another day in downtown begins.

Upon arrival back home, I hurry to get ready in our tiny furnished sublet (welcome to D.C. life where nothing is spacious or long term!) and run to my stop in Adams Morgan.  The good news I usually miss the L2 and the 42 and 43 follow right after.  My stop is I & 18^th downtown right next to another famous address, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (hint it’s a big White House), but a majority of my bus is co-workers at the World Bank Group.  Our location on 18^th Street spans over 6 different buildings and our security badges dominate every sidewalk within a 3 block radius.  With over 5,000 employees from over 140 different countries, WBG is a “family” of 5 different international organizations that finance loans to countries for development projects all over the world.  WBG is considered the most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group providing over $30 billion dollars in assistance.  The bank’s mission is to elevate poverty through different projects such as: health, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and education to just to name a few.

Located on G Street, I work in the Preventative Services Unit (PSU) of the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) for the summer for my DPMI+ practicum.  INT’s mandate is to assist in preventative efforts to protect WBG’s supported activities and funds; this includes creating policy frameworks to prevent and assist in the allegations of fraud, corruption, bribery, and collusion.  Currently, my team is creating a survey for law enforcement and prevention services from different regions of the world examining correlations between prevention, health proliferations, and illicit flows of money.  We intend to administer the survey at the conclusion of the summer in anticipation of a conference to be held here at WBG in the fall.  The goal is to look at correlations between prevention and law enforcement agencies and compile success stories for publication and “DPMI’esq” break-out sessions to be held for participants during the conference.

This summer I am the only “junior professional intern” on our team but other departments are hosting a variety of JPI’s from all over the world though they are primarily L1’s and L2’s (law students) my background as a paralegal before attending MIIS and my studies specifically in Dr. Ruehsen’s financial crimes classes, MPA coursework in project management, M&E, DPMI, and Dr. Dayton-Johnson’s development economics gave me a marketable CV the PSU was looking for in a JPI for the summer.  My days consist of various meetings discussing components of the survey we want to use, a new red-flag check list to publish on the WBG site, and there is always an exciting brown-bag lunch to attend on a variety of topics including new civil registration logistics in the MENA region or risk simulations for Investigators.

At 4:30, I turn of my light in my office (yep, that’s right I actually got a little tiny box all to myself with a door) and head downstairs to meet my husband who commutes from International Relief Development, in Virginia.  Heading back to AdMo we decide if we want to stay in and cook or head to happy hour because that is where all the real networking in this city happens.

My phone is buzzing and I groan. 5:30 AM:  get up and get going. 2 more hours of sleep would’ve been perfect, or a half hour, or even just fifteen minutes, but I’m only arguing with myself as I climb in the shower. I’ve resigned to the fact that I have 5 summer shirts and 5 pairs of slacks in my tiny, tiny wardrobe. In fact, it’s come in handy 5/7 days a week. I grab this and that from my closet, tuck my shirt in, wonder why I didn’t hand wash my only pair of work socks, and mosey down the stairs to burn a little bacon.

Mornings in Washington, D.C. are nothing like Monterey: Summer is coming. 60 degree mornings are humid; the air is so heavy I often relish its density in my lungs, reminding me of my Philadelphia childhood. At 7 AM, I always hope the metro is almost bare, but today, there is no seating in the first car. Eased by the morning paper and some 90s and 00s hits on Spotify, I snag a seat at L’Enfant Plaza and settle into the rest of my commute to Northern Virginia.

My route to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is indirect; from the metro, I hop on a shuttle, and take the stairs in my building to my desk. My lonely cubicle awaits the arrival of other interns to keep me company, but I dismiss the lack of bodies and I bury my head in the 2012 FATF Recommendations, taking short breaks to job hunt. In my plan, there would be no better place to be right after MIIS than to stay at FinCEN, but I suppose I should be prepared with alternatives.

It’s Tuesday, my favorite weekday: the plethora of morning and afternoon meetings leave little time to get much done, but the satisfaction of sharing the previous week’s progress  with my colleagues is enough to power me through the day and help to solidify my role as an IPSS Fellow. I feel like an equal, no longer a student, ignoring the school assignments that await me at home, of course.

Starting my day before 9AM, excuses me before 5PM and I grab the shuttle to the metro that fills in the city center. Internally designing my dinner, I eagerly await my stop and speed walk home. Maybe I could aspire to compete if I keep my form perfect (heel, toe, heel, toe – it’s all in the hips…). In February, falling asleep on the couch was my evening ritual, but now I cook & eat, get my daily dose of Facebook, and review the material from last weekend’s workshop with Dr. Ruehsen. A bit of research for a 20-page paper and for my work with a private compliance firm, prod me to head upstairs to the coziness of some music, reading, and shut-eye.

Does anyone else every have that dream that wakes you up at an unearthly hour because you think you forgot to submit an assignment or are late for a class or group meeting? I’m not saying this wakes me up every morning, but on days that the bright sunlight streaming through my open window does not slowly awaken me to another beautiful day in Monterey, a dream like this will certainly jar me awake in a panicked frenzy.

Most days I’m at school or a cafe around 10, starting my day off with coffee or a pot of chai tea and almond milk before delving into the ever-growing list of homework assignments, group meetings and daily classes scheduled throughout the week. Depending on the day, I arrive at Dr. Laurance’s Armed Violence and Development class by 10, armed with the week’s readings and a new draft of my research project. This class has been one of the most impactful classes I have taken at MIIS, prompting me to consider a future career in the security field and also teaching me to look deeper into current issues involving armed groups, cycles of violence and varying security measures/laws through a development lens. Today, I presented my final project on armed, non-state actor’s adherence to international law and/or codes of conduct. I hope to show a positive correlation between this adherence and increased long-term national development.

Pausing for a lunch break, where I generally finish last minute assignments and catch up on emails over a caprese salad, I try to spend some time outdoors by sitting somewhere in the sun and feeling the salty sea breeze rush in over the bay. One of my only regrets from this past year has been not taking more time to explore the natural beauty of the local coastline, a regret I plan on remedying during my final year of school starting next fall. Other days, I spend an hour at the free student yoga class where I take my mind off of school just long enough to re-center and remind myself that health, wellbeing and exercise are also vital aspects of my daily life that truly make me a happier person in all aspects of my life.

Ok, back to school and right into Grassroots Leadership and Development. Taking this class as been transformative because it helped to effectively couple my passions for the policy world at the governmental level and the work done by social change organizations on constituent-centered projects at the grassroots, local level. Throughout my first year at MIIS I have tried to combine both areas of interest effectively by taking a combination of Public Administration and International Policy Studies: Human Security and Development classes so that my skillset and experience mirrors my desire to combine both areas into a potential career.

To end my day, I attend my one-on-one Turkish language class with my professor from the Defense Language Institute. Seeing as my language class is a directed study course, I have been lucky enough to tailor my language learning to two of my areas of deep interest, women’s human rights and current international affairs, therefore helping me gain the vocabulary and professional speaking, reading and writing capacity to perhaps work confidently in Turkey within my field of study.

By the time I arrive back home I’m tired and hungry, usually working on several more assignments over dinner. I end my night with a long Skype chat with my amazing and supportive husband, Sultan, who is perusing his masters in International Construction Management at the University of Washington or my wonderful parents and siblings living in Oregon and Washington, before curling up to a deep, restful sleep.

At this point of the semester, however, my regular schedule is winding down and being replaced with the numerous late nights writing papers and studying for final exams, coupled with the random nights out for a glass of wine with friends to celebrate a successful class presentation, a fantastic fundraising event, or an amazing internship opportunity. Personally, I am thrilled to be headed to Washington D.C. for an internship with WI-HER (Women Influencing Health, Educational and Rule of Law) as a Gender Integration intern working on a USAID ASSIST project. Although I was initially intimidated by the intensity of living in D.C. over the summer, I have become increasingly excited to live in the innovative and internationally aligned city among fellow MIIS students, interns from around the world, and highly successful professionals with years of experience in my field of specialization. This incredible exposure to the professional world of international policy will push me even harder to achieve my career goals as a future international policy professional focusing on human security, human rights and international development.

Next year, I look forward to taking Intro to Conflict Resolution, a class that receives incredible reviews at MIIS, as well as working on the continuation of a college preparation resource manual project with my amazing partner and friend, Sarah Sterling, for Community Partnership for Youth. CPY is a local organization working to prevent gang violence through education and peer mentorship, and an organization I hope to work with further next year. I also look forward to blogging as frequently as possible for the Women’s International Perspective, a MIIS based online news platform highlighting women’s voices and perspectives from around the world. The WIP excites me because it is a forum through which I can combine what I am learning at MIIS with my interest in gender empowerment and human rights that may not be addressed directly though my coursework or projects. Their collaboration with the Monterey Institute is an incredible asset to the school! Currently, I am working on a post regarding local human trafficking issues and anti-trafficking work within Monterey County for the WIP. It is this excitement for the future coupled with the academic and professional preparation we are receive as MIIS students that that propels me forward and helps me strive to be my best self, academically and personally.

The final moments of sunset on Carmel beach or the happy laughter filling the air over happy hour at Restaurant 1833 make me really look back at this year and celebrate the hard work I have put into my education and the accomplishments I have earned. The incredible friendships I have developed at MIIS, the valuable support from my family and the revitalized passion to seek new opportunities and experiences as often as possible, are all reasons to look back at this year with great joy. I am immensely proud of the incredible adventures that my friends and classmates are embarking on this summer and the new careers they are starting all around the world. The hard work is paying off, my fiends! Cheers to us all, and I wish everyone success, happiness and new exiting experiences this summer and always.