{"id":411,"date":"2012-03-12T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-03-12T09:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/?p=411"},"modified":"2012-03-16T16:12:28","modified_gmt":"2012-03-16T16:12:28","slug":"the-single-most-fulfilling-experience-of-my-career-an-interview-with-kristin-deasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/the-single-most-fulfilling-experience-of-my-career-an-interview-with-kristin-deasy\/","title":{"rendered":"“The single most fulfilling experience of my career,” an Interview with Kristin Deasy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a guest post by Kristin Deasy, a top, young journalist from the United States, and is part of the “Where Are They Now?” series<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here is what she had to say about her experience in Cairo as a <\/span>Reporting Fellow<\/a>: <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is a memorable moment from your time participating in the fellowship?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Samira Ibrahim,\u00a0a young Egyptian woman whom myself and a small group of female fellows were in contact with over her decision to sue the authorities over a \u201cvirginity test\u201d she said was administered to her and other women arrested at a March protest, was walking slowly across Tahrir Square, retracing her steps, recounting what had to have been intensely painful memories. She was flagged by a translator, videographer, and photographer, all fellows.<\/p>\n

I followed behind with my fellow Egyptian colleague, Deena Adel, who, like me, was writing about Ibrahim\u2019s case. It was a long walk, and we lagged behind, caught up in conversation — not about Ibrahim precisely, but about the greater context surrounding her case — we were discussing the problems faced by young women in today\u2019s modern world. We were swapping stories, asking questions, comparing dating experiences. We were laughing, and sometimes we concluded that men are the same everywhere. We trusted one another; we learned from one another. This moment of openness, of spontaneous sharing, came more out of sincere affection than cultural curiosity. The Tahrir walk — framed by Samira\u2019s compelling case and a dedicated team of female journalists aggressively covering a women\u2019s story — remains seared in my memory. To me, it captures the spirit of the fellowship. Of course, the beauty of it was it was just one moment out of many.<\/p>\n

What did you take away from your interaction with the other Reporting Fellows?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest takeaway was the forging of new friendships. In terms of being in Cairo, the rapport with other young Egyptians and the foreigners based there gave me — and others, I\u2019m sure — a window into the country. There were so many moments in talking with them that I felt I glimpsed a different, more real Egypt. It left me thirsting for more! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Where are you working now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m currently working on various freelance projects. <\/strong>I\u2019m focused on rights issues related to youth, women, and children throughout the Middle East. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, what kind of an impact did this fellowship have on you and your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It had an enormous impact. Easily counts as the single most fulfilling experience of my career, given the incredible support and guidance we fellows received. The mentorship of Charlie Sennott, in particular, left me a better journalist and, I think, a better person for having met someone of his integrity and dedication to the craft. His go-getter attitude, his leadership, and his mentorship inspired me to dream big, to believe that my work can make a tangible difference, for the better, in the world. Right now I\u2019m working toward precisely that end.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo by: Elizabeth Herman (October 2011)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a guest post by Kristin Deasy, a top, young journalist from the United States, and is part of the “Where Are They Now?” series. Here is what she had to say about her experience in Cairo as a Reporting Fellow: What is a memorable moment from your time participating in the fellowship? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,44],"tags":[47,45,39,37,38,42],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egypt","category-reporting-fellowship","tag-charles-sennott","tag-covering-a-revolution","tag-journalism","tag-media-democracy","tag-tahrir-square","tag-where-are-they-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openhandsinitiative.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}