Off to the United Nations!

Instead of meeting in the regular room for class this week, my International Communication class went to the United Nations. Since we spend much time discussing the UN and its impact on our global society in the course, our professor decided it would be worthwhile to take advantage of our location in New York City and our proximity to the United Nations Headquarters.

UN Visitor Centre

While there, we went on a guided tour, where we learned about various aspects of the UN, hearing about everything from its founding to the artwork on display (and everything in between)!  We were able to walk through the Economic and Social Council chamber, where a meeting was being held. Upon entering the Security Council Chamber, we were told about the importance of the council and the impact it has had on the world...in the very spot where the members meet! After the tour, we attended a briefing, where we learned about the media and news division of the UN.

UN Security Council Chamber

To be able to supplement a semester of more traditional classroom learning with a "field trip" like this was a great experience!

Learning Outside the Classroom

What do you want to be when you grow up?

We’ve all been asked this question before, and along with all my fellow seniors, it’s what’s on my mind. What are my plans for my life after Fordham?

The education that Fordham has provided has prepared me to tackle challenges outside of my coursework and in the form of various internships.

Right now I’m interning with CNN’s newest show, Erin Burnett OutFront (shameless plug: tune in 7pm EST!). This past summer I began my experience at CNN’s New York bureau (conveniently located two blocks from our Lincoln Center campus) interning full-time before they extended an offer for me to continue through the Fall semester.

Aside from being co-workers with some world-renowned journalist (Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer to name a few), I have had the most real, hands-on experience of what it means to be in the industry. The unpredictable and very real nature of following the news is what keeps me going when balancing late shifts at the office, schoolwork and extra-curricular activities becomes difficult. My time during the day can be spent pursuing a contact, doing story research, sitting with editors or pulling videos. The work I do for the show is real, and it is hard, but I love it.

Lessons I learn from my professors in my Communications and Journalism classes can be directly applied to the work that I have to do for CNN. In any given week I can see my education in the classroom working in hand with my education outside of it. My writing started in the classrooms, and eventually made it to the front page of our school newspaper The Ram, thanks to the encouragement of a professor. I started writing regularly for The Ram, where I eventually became a Staff Writer, and now, I have an article on CNN.com and a package that aired four times on television.

Being in New York City puts all Fordham students at an advantage. We are in the epicenter of news, business, economics, art and so much more. The wide variety of internships that city has to offer covers even the most specific of interests.

My work at CNN will hopefully land me a job, but at the very least, I’ve gotten a few good memories out of it:

Field Access when CNN covered the Yankee's HOPE Week:

The first shoot I ever went on, an ostrich farm in New Jersey:

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon making a statement on Syria:

The CNN control room where I work now:

The UN Visits Fordham

Political Science Major Andrew Steffan attends Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza's lecture...

Fordham College Rose Hill: The UN Visits Fordham: "Yesterday, September 21st, José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OSA), gave a lecture in Duane Lib..."