Insane Week

         The fact that it is the middle of summer has no effect on my ever busy schedule. Why most people my age are hanging by the pool, watching TV, going shopping and enjoying the world, I've been crazy busy. As most of you know, I write for the Denver Post. Most of the time it's an incredible job that has definitely provided more than a girl's fair share of so-called "one in a lifetime opportunities." And then there's those weeks where I'm writing non-stop, getting no sleep, and traveling all over the state from 5 in the morning until 10 at night. This has been one of those weeks.

          Saturday, June 26th, I had the fantastic opportunity to interview Tinsel Korey and BooBoo Stewart from "Twilight Saga: Eclipse." You can check out the interview here. We hung out for around 30 minutes before they had to leave for an interview with a local news channel. With all of the obsessed, idolizing fans, I was surprised to find just how down-to-earth and humble they both were.

          I then headed down to Sloan's Lake Park in Denver where hundreds of fans were waiting for Tinsel and BooBoo to sign things, host a trivia competition, do a Q&A, and then announce the screening of New Moon. You can read all about that here. From the moment the stars arrived to the moment they left, there was nonstop screaming and shouting.

          Sunday was spent at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference where I interviewed numerous educators and students from a few of the 72 countries present, including Australia, Singapore, Chile, Turkey, Germany, Mexico, France, and Japan. I had a video conference with a teacher in Pakistan and listened to Jean-Francois Rischard, former Vice President of The World Bank, speak about 20 problems facing the world and why we only have 20 years to fix them. 

          Monday I woke up at 4:30am to babysit for the neighbors across the street (my other job that actually pays. I have some amazing experiences, but writing for the Post pays nothing.) As soon as I finished there, I headed downtown again to interview Ellen Siminoff, one of the founding executives of Yahoo, about her new website for students. You can read my review of Shmoop and the interview here. She was late, so I spoke with Brady Wood, the VP, for quite a while until she showed up. When she finally did, we ended up talking more about college then we did the website. She gave me some awesome advice as to how to get into an ivy-league, which as of now is one of my dreams: 

1. Get to know all of the alumni in the area, and get to know them well. You want as many outstanding references as you can possibly get, and having alumni on your side is a huge plus. 
2. Start planning now. The first day of Freshman year, sit down with your councilor and create a step by step plan. If you don't have a good councilor, hire one. It's really worth the extra money in the long run. 
3. Attend a summer program offered by the college. 
4. Join a sport. It doesn't matter what sport it is, as long as you have one. Colleges really look at that to make sure you're well rounded. This one will definitely be the hardest one for be since, as most of you know, I am quite possibly the most un-athletic person in the world.   

          After wrapping up the interview, we headed down to a screening of Eclipse. Screaming occurred every time RPatz or Lautner appeared on screen, and random, unnecessary allpause filled the theater during all of the on screen kisses. You can read my short review here.  

          Tuesday I once again attended the ISTE conference, this time hanging out with some really cool guys from a private high school in Mexico City who were presenting that day. I toured the convention, had some great food, and checked out some incredible technology. 

          Today I arrived at the conference bright and early in order to give a presentation over and over again to educators along with four other reporters. One reporter, whom I won't name, really pissed me off. As I said before, there were people there from all across the globe, including Mexico City. There was a group of young boys (maybe 10 or 11 years old) who were hanging out around our booth, asking questions and taking some of the pins (which was totally fine, because that's exactly what they were meant for.) As the group of students were walking away, the reporter turned to me and  another reporter standing next to me and went off on how much he hated "those little Mexican kids" because "they stole all of our stuff" and "wouldn't stay out of his personal bubble." He then went on to say how American's were more superior than the kids and that "Mexican's don't have any manners." 

          I couldn't believe the nerve the guy had. Different countries have different expectations as to what is appropriate and what is not when it come to social situations. I hate that so many American's have no respect for any other culture than their own. They don't get that being American doesn't make us any better than someone from, I don't know, Mexico. Their complete and utter disrespect for anything other than their way of doing things highlights exactly why most of the world hates Americans. And after seeing that today, I can't find one reason why I don't agree with the rest of the world.  

   

          Thursday, althought I'm babysitting from 9 to 6, is my day to catch up on writing thank yous, doing research for my next interview, and *crosses fingers* a little bit of reading. 

           Friday I have a phone interview with Stewart Raffill (director) and Kayla Jackson (actor) from the new movie "Standing Ovation." As soon as that's finished, I'm off to Latin lessons! Can't wait for this week to be over so I can actually get some sleep.