{"id":10750,"date":"2017-08-11T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capal.org\/?p=10750"},"modified":"2018-09-18T05:54:50","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T05:54:50","slug":"capal-intern-spotlight-alain-xiongcalmes-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/capal-intern-spotlight-alain-xiongcalmes-17\/","title":{"rendered":"CAPAL Intern Spotlight Alain Xiong-Calmes ’17"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Alain Xiong-Calmes\u00a0\u00a0is a senior in the American University School of Public Affairs, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, with a Certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies. This summer, he is\u00a0interning at the US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Office as a Sustainable Operations and Climate Change Assistant. <\/span><\/p>\n

What major projects are you working on in your internship? What responsibilities are you most excited about and why? <\/b><\/p>\n

In the Forest Service\u2019s Region 5 office, I help to support projects related to sustainability. My two biggest projects have been helping to organize and coordinate the logistics for a symposium on drought and tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where there are 102+ million dead trees. This represents a massive change in the ecosystem, which presents a ton of risks for the future. Right now, it looks like we\u2019re going to have around 200 experts coming together to talk about the crisis. Hopefully some great ideas will come out of it. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I\u2019ve also been working on performing an analysis of micro-grants that the Forest Service gives out for sustainable operations projects. The projects help sustainability by doing things like helping people purchase new plumbing, putting in new LED lights, or purchasing more efficient refrigerators. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I\u2019ve spent some time also trying to meet lots of folks around the office. The people here are all awesome, which really excites me! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When did you realize you wanted to explore public service? <\/b><\/p>\n

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a firefighter. I realize now that the reason I wanted to do that was because I could help people that way, which is why public service appeals to me. I\u2019m not quite sure when this clicked with me, probably at some point in high school. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>I used to do mock trial and debate in high school and a lot of people I was surrounded by were interested in public service, and I think that was a huge influence on me as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"What are your plans\/ goals after this internship? Are there any goals you want to accomplish this summer? <\/b><\/p>\n

I plan to enter my senior year at American University! This next year, I\u2019m serving as fundraising co-coordinator for the School of Public Affairs Leadership program, and I\u2019ll be sure to bring what I\u2019ve learned to that position. I\u2019m also hoping to get another internship in before I graduate. \u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>My Asian-American identity is also so important to me, and it\u2019s nice to be part of a community this summer where we can relate to each other\u2019s experiences. As I\u2019ve entered young adulthood, I\u2019ve become increasingly aware of how much my Chinese heritage has shaped me and changed my view of the world. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I think the Forest Service and CAPAL have \u00a0really helped to increase my professional confidence this summer, which has been my biggest goal. The mentoring is truly invaluable. \u00a0In general, I want to make sure I\u2019m as ready as possible professionally and mentally for the \u201creal world.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to where your internship is located? <\/b><\/p>\n

I used to do some education work for a non-profit called Life Pieces to Masterpieces. One of my favorite compliments I ever got was when I was conversing with one of my bosses, Selvin. Selvin came up to me and asked me \u201cAlain, did you grow up in California?\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>I said \u201cno, why?\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>He responded \u201cI\u2019ve always liked the people I\u2019ve met from California, they always seem so cool.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>I can definitely see why he said that now that I\u2019m here. I grew up in Philadelphia and go to D.C., so this is my first time on the West Coast. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do you do for fun? <\/b><\/p>\n

I absolutely love music. I am principal cellist of my University\u2019s Symphony Orchestra. I love going to concerts, playing and performing with friends, and listening to new music. I also love to hike, exercise, and make new friends! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is something that most people would not know about you?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge Star Wars nerd. I used to be obsessed as a kid. I would read every Star Wars book I could get my hands on. I was actually so into it I was a little embarrassed. I still have tons of novels and books spread throughout my mother\u2019s home that are Star Wars related.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alain Xiong-Calmes\u00a0\u00a0is a senior in the American University School of Public Affairs, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, with a Certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies. This … Continue reading CAPAL Intern Spotlight Alain Xiong-Calmes ’17<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10750"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12693,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750\/revisions\/12693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}