Hello.  My name is Michelle.  If you’ve found your way over from one of my other blogs, you probably already know this.  If not, now you do.  I’m a New Jersey native, formerly of Pennsauken and Mt. Laurel.  I am an enlisted member of the U.S. Coast Guard who is currently stationed in Newport, Rhode Island while awaiting my turn to attend my A-School for training for my eventual job of Operations Specialist.   I am also a certified New Jersey Social Studies teacher, although given the cuts to public education over the last several years, you will probably not be surprised to hear that I no longer teach.  I have worked for Apple in New Jersey and Manhattan since then, and also spent a stint closer to home as an SAT tutor for Huntington Learning Centes.

I am also a video editor, though I usually edit as a hobby and do not see it as a career that I would be happy with.  In that capacity, I edited the first and only season of Issues: The Series, which was released online in 2009.  I have also served as assistant editor on Altostratus Films‘ A Passing Afternoon, as well as the editor for the company’s 24-hour NYC Film Race submission: Happenstance.  Despite now living farther from NYC, I hope that I can keep working with my friends on projects as they come up.  Should I get stationed in California in the future, there are plenty of West Coast friends that I’d also be happy working with.

My background is in World History, and I am also very interested in international relations.  I am currently earning a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from University of Maryland University College online to go along with the Bachelor of Arts that I earned from The College of New Jersey in 2007.  My goal is to finish my degree with UMUC by 2016.  By that time I also hope to be reasonably fluent in Hindi, which I am currently learning the basics of using Rosetta Stone.  I also hope to go to graduate school after my time in the Coast Guard so that I can earn a Master’s Degree in International Relations.  My dream job is to one day work for the United States Foreign Service as a Political Officer, although I am exploring the Economics branch as well to see if it is something I would be happy with..  I tease my husband that our constant moving around the country in the Coast Guard is just practice for eventually moving around the world.