Good and bad news.
First, the bad news: On Tuesday night, I flew from LAX to Boston on the red eye. Not only was the flight delayed, but they put me between two babies, so I didn't get much sleep. But, eventually, the flight arrived in Boston but the delay meant I had only a fifteen minute window to get on the plane bound for Reagan International airport. But when I showed up in Reagan, I found that they had lost my suitcase. The suitcase had my suit, most of my money, my books, my really nice ties, my notes for the presentation -- basically everything. The delays meant I had only fifteen minutes to get from Reagan to the Phillips Foundation. I had only (sort of) slept and sweat in my clothes, so I smelled foul. I arrived to the Foundation thirty minutes after my interview and sat in the waiting room wearing jeans and staring at all of the older people there for the fellowship. Most of them had already worked in journalism. The time ticked away. My phone died. Life was ungood. jetBlue took ten hours to finally get me my luggage at my hotel. As their customer service was the main reason I chose to fly with them, I felt like a jilted lover. How could you jetBlue?
From there on out, though things took a turn for the good. Despite my lack of sleep, fatigue, odor and general discomfort, the fact that I was the only finalist still in college (by far), I think I rocked the 15-minute interview. I say I think because I don't really remember it. Other than the fact that it was with Al Regnery of one of the finest conservative publishing houses; John Farley, the executive director of the Phillips Foundation; Jonathan Last (one of my favorite writers at The Weekly Standard) and Mollie Hemingway of Christianity Today, I remember only bits and pieces. But the bits I remember were good.
I won the Special Alumni Fund fellowship at $7,500. I'll be writing a 10,000 word article about the use of Middle Eastern money and the corruption of Arabic and Middle East studies programs at America's top universities. All in all, I'm pretty excited to get started. I fly back to Washington D.C. to attend the National Press Club on May 17, 2011 for the ceremony.
Now imagine if I had had my tailored suit...
First, the bad news: On Tuesday night, I flew from LAX to Boston on the red eye. Not only was the flight delayed, but they put me between two babies, so I didn't get much sleep. But, eventually, the flight arrived in Boston but the delay meant I had only a fifteen minute window to get on the plane bound for Reagan International airport. But when I showed up in Reagan, I found that they had lost my suitcase. The suitcase had my suit, most of my money, my books, my really nice ties, my notes for the presentation -- basically everything. The delays meant I had only fifteen minutes to get from Reagan to the Phillips Foundation. I had only (sort of) slept and sweat in my clothes, so I smelled foul. I arrived to the Foundation thirty minutes after my interview and sat in the waiting room wearing jeans and staring at all of the older people there for the fellowship. Most of them had already worked in journalism. The time ticked away. My phone died. Life was ungood. jetBlue took ten hours to finally get me my luggage at my hotel. As their customer service was the main reason I chose to fly with them, I felt like a jilted lover. How could you jetBlue?
From there on out, though things took a turn for the good. Despite my lack of sleep, fatigue, odor and general discomfort, the fact that I was the only finalist still in college (by far), I think I rocked the 15-minute interview. I say I think because I don't really remember it. Other than the fact that it was with Al Regnery of one of the finest conservative publishing houses; John Farley, the executive director of the Phillips Foundation; Jonathan Last (one of my favorite writers at The Weekly Standard) and Mollie Hemingway of Christianity Today, I remember only bits and pieces. But the bits I remember were good.
I won the Special Alumni Fund fellowship at $7,500. I'll be writing a 10,000 word article about the use of Middle Eastern money and the corruption of Arabic and Middle East studies programs at America's top universities. All in all, I'm pretty excited to get started. I fly back to Washington D.C. to attend the National Press Club on May 17, 2011 for the ceremony.
Now imagine if I had had my tailored suit...
