Blogger's Rookie Year

You’ve already read a little bit about me in my Bio, but just to elaborate a bit…I moved to Arlington in August 2011 to attend Marymount. I came here from a small town in southern Illinois, so this has been, to say the least, quite the change. But, I’m adapting (i.e., I’m slowly but surely becoming a more aggressive driver…a MUST for this area). Shortly after starting classes, I applied for (and got) the open Graduate Assistant position in my department, which has been such a great opportunity.

This past spring and summer, I interned with AT-RISK International, a private security and investigations firm in this area (I’m a licensed P.I. in the Commonwealth of Virginia!). Just a few weeks ago, I started interning with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. Wordy, right? Thankfully, I get to call it START. START’s based at the University of Maryland’s College Park Campus, and they, in short, research terrorism. One of the ways they do this is through the Global Terrorism Database (GTD). The GTD is a MASSIVE compilation of incidents of terrorism (from 1970-present), with about 120 data variables coded for each incident. Yea, when I said MASSIVE, I meant it. Any who, this is where my internship comes in. I’ll be coding 2012 incidents of terrorism in the GTD, specifically information concerning perpetrators and targets/victims. Sounds fun, right? If you’re a nerd like me, it actually does. And it actually is! I’m really enjoying it so far, and you’ll probably hear a lot about that through this blog.

You’ll also probably hear a lot about the super enjoyable process that is…trying to work for the federal government. Yay!!!!! No? Ok, no. Not that enjoyable. But, I’m assuming that’s what a lot of you forensic-minded folks are interested in. If I’m wrong, let me know.

Actually, just in general, let me know about anything you want me to blog about. Like, if you’ve heard about this awesome new pizza place but you can’t get over there, I’ll take that bullet and try it for you and let you know how it is :)

But, other than that, I’ll probably just talk about how life in the big city works out for this small town girl. I’ll just let this first blog be an introduction to me, and I’ll be sure to cook up some adventures to write about for the next one. And again, if there’s anything you want to know…ask!

~ Katelyn