Do-Gooders for Afghanistan and Iraq?

Among the ranks of my fellow recent college graduates are many, including some of my good friends, who have chosen to dedicate a year, two, or more of their lives to social improvement programs such as the Peace Corps and Teach For America. These people are among the best and brightest of their generation, not to mention the most motivated and unselfish.

Meanwhile our country is involved in massive reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As we have found out in both countries, the larger share of fighting a war has nothing to do with military combat at all. In Iraq and Afghanistan, a massive rebuilding effort is needed to tackle challenges related to infrastructure, education, public institutions, and human rights.

To me, it seems obvious that here is a situation that is fertile ground for civilian assistance (our military does a great job but they can't do it all!), particularly through the volunteer efforts of smart, motivated Americans, and especially young people. Yet while you hear plenty of stories about recent college grads volunteering in HIV clinics in Botswana or teaching English in Japan, I have not heard much about civilian volunteering in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Surely there must be a need on many different fronts, whether in schools, as office staff, working with youth, accounting, and so much more. Additionally, older, more professionally experienced volunteers like lawyers or civil service workers would surely be useful, no?

So if you're not in the military, how does someone my age who is willing help out? A Monster.com job search reveals only jobs working for private contractors, typically in security or involving machinery, or permanent positions with international organizations which require years of international experience.

Yes, the aforementioned Peace Corps is an option, though that is just one program, and a rigid 27-month one at that. I've done a lot of Googling to try and find non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with volunteer programs, and (especially for Afghanistan, my focus) found very little. In spite of the security issues and language requirements, I'm quite surprised at the dearth of large, reputable programs to place volunteers there, especially for shorter-range volunteer opportunities that would require anywhere from a few months to a couple years.

One of the few promising ones I have found out about which claims to be accepting international volunteers is a small outfit called Skateistan. This organization, focused on children in Kabul, promotes education, health, and cross-cultural interaction. They also have the unique idea of being centered around promoting a love of skateboarding--an idea so radical, it just might work extremely well! I'll be following their progress closely in the weeks to come.

If anyone reading this post does know of any interesting volunteer opportunities in Afghanistan or Iraq, please get in touch with me. I would be very interested to hear about it.

Kaplan Audition: The Santa Menace

Below is the text of the five minute speech I gave this evening at my audition for becoming a Kaplan SAT tutor:

Good evening, everyone. Tonight I have a slightly unusual topic to talk with you about. In the next five minutes, I am going to lay out a convincing case for why the U.S. army should invade the North Pole and overthrow its dictator, Santa Claus.

Now before we get started, let me ask you in the audience a question. How many of you all celebrate Christmas? Please raise your hand.

[Calling on audience members.] You there, do you get presents on Christmas? And you, you do too? Ok, very well.

So you probably think of this Santa fella as a benevolent, gift-giving old friend. You probably think there is no reason for us to go in and take over his operation, right? Wrong!

Allow me to present the principal reasons as to why Santa poses a threat to us.

• Santa's intelligence-gathering apparatus
  

  He knows whether every boy in the girl has been good or bad. Imagine how valuable that information could be to the people responsible for protecting our national security. We could utilize Santa's information collection tools to keep tabs on troublesome people around the world.
  
  Is Osama bin Laden planning another attack? Is the president of Iran working on a nuclear bomb? What is Kim Jong Il up to these days?
  
  We don't know. But Santa does. It's time he shared that information with us.
  

• Santa’s superior technology
  

  Two things here. One, that reindeer sled. We know that in one night, he can travel to every home in the entire world. That sled must be fast—faster than any bullet train or fighter jet we have. That kind of technology--reindeers--in the wrong hands could be terribly dangerous. It’s important that we invade the North Pole and secure control of those ridiculously fast flying reindeer.
  
  The other thing: his elves. He has enslaved a magical work force that can outproduce laborers from any economy in the world. What if those elves were to turn from making Tickle Me Elmos to Tickle Me Nuclear Weapons? They could create the largest arsenal in the world, thereby endangering all of our lives.
  
  Or, Santa could decide he wanted to become the new king of outsourcing and have all computer jobs sent to the North Pole, where his tireless elves would write machine code night and day. We can’t allow that to happen. We must liberates those elves, bringing them freedom and ensuring the job security of future young Americans.

• My third and final point: he violates national sovereignty and parents’ rights
  
  We mentioned that he travels to every home in the world via his flying sled. Well, in doing so he certainly violates the airspace and sovereign territory of the many nations in this world that have not given him permission to do so. Who knows, he could be flying over classified military establishments or spying on important trade secrets.
  
  Not only that, but who appointed Santa the great arbiter of whether a child has been good or bad? Who made him the incentive for children to behave or not behave? Shouldn’t that be the responsibility of parents, who should decide for themselves whether or not their child has been good, and not leave that decision up to Santa? And shouldn’t children behave well out of an acknowledgment of the proper functioning of society’s rules rather than out of hopes of getting an iPod or new bicycle from that pervert Santa?
  
  I sure think so!

That is why I have taken the time to make this presentation to you, because the truth matters. I hope you have found my speech enlightening. Go home and discuss this matter with your friends and family, because this grave problem cannot be ignored much longer.

Thank you very much.

* * *

I guess it worked out fine, because I got hired!

On Elite Colleges and Success

In high school, I attended a prestigious magnet program where many of my fellow students were admitted to top-tier colleges like Stanford, MIT, and the Ivy League schools. On the other hand, I accepted a scholarship to my state school, the University of Maryland, where I just completed the second year of my undergraduate program. Although I am completely satisfied with my decision and I love being at UMD, I have often wondered what the impact on my life would be had I gone somewhere else.

I consider talent and hard work to be more important than any other factor as a determinant of success. Yet I can certainly see the advantages of going to a big brand-name school. Especially as a finance major I can see the benefits of having an established network, prestigious background, and a cohort of fellow successful students. That is why, I'll admit, I have long planned on getting an MBA from a Wharton or Harvard-level program.

It was interesting, then, to come across this article, which states that among "equally talented students who applied to the nation's most elite institutions", those who were accepted and those who were rejected and wound up going to less selective schools were earning the same income twenty years later! (Reader reactions to the article were also interesting; Laura Rowley also points out that only 10 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs have Ivy League undergraduate degrees. Though that number is not that small, and I would bet the total rises when including postgraduate degrees.)

The truth, as I see it, is probably that those of us who attend a school of lesser renown will have to work a lot harder initially to be on an equal footing with our colleagues at top-tier schools. After that, I trust, a successful career path is available to those who can seize the opportunity. There is where I hope the experience of having to work harder will give students like myself an advantage.

If I needed any further reminder of the importance of scoring a great job upon graduating, Aplia EconBlog discusses an article in Thursday's New York Times on getting a good start. According to the Times writer, "Graduates' first jobs have an inordinate impact on their career path and their 'future income stream,' as economists refer to a person's earnings over a lifetime." Aplia's William Chiu says that if you start out behind, you will perpetually be behind.

The central question remains though: what route offers the best method of landing the great job? More specifically, what specific advantages does a top-tier education have and are they a determining factor in assuring career success?

I'm interested in hearing from those of you who from both sides of the aisle. Tell me what you think.