Field Notes from the Global Stage: A Summer of Inquiry into Policy, Diplomacy, and Internet Governance

Introduction

After months of speculation and research, I have finally published this blog. Furthermore, throughout this summer, I’ve had a variety of experiences, and I sought to conclude the summer season. I would review some of my moments from the past few months!

The following writing should be taken as a casual review rather than an official report of my activities. 

Policy Camp

In the early weeks of my summer, I was fortunate to participate in a summer session of the Harvard Undergraduate International Relations Scholars Program. Although it was only a few days, I had the opportunity to directly converse and collaborate with students from all across the globe, thanks to its virtual format, which I found incredibly enthralling.

We were fortunate enough to have a variety of discussions with foreign ambassadors, international lawmakers, and business consultants. Furthermore, in the final days of the camp, we were given an initiative to form groups and establish a policy solution to a foreign issue. 

My group, which comprised high school students from North and South America and South Asia, had selected improving the quality of refugee camps in Pakistan for women’s well-being. Therefore, we constructed a PowerPoint presentation in order to demonstrate our analysis and proposals. 

DotBrand Research

In the following weeks of June and July, I delved into the upcoming application cycle for domain registration at ICANN through an internship program that I will be continuing in the fall. As of the present moment, I’ve been reviewing the cybersecurity benefits of dotBrand ownership, its prevalence across multi-sector industries, and dotBrand purchase ROI. 

Additionally, I was allowed to learn from the next generation, as I reviewed the presentations of the NextGENN@ICANN program through virtual participation, and despite my distance, I was able to learn from a variety of topics, delving into internet governance from students with a variety of backgrounds.

I hope to learn more about future updates within the organization at the upcoming ICANN84 meeting.

Finale

At last, I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunities I’ve been provided with this summer as I enter high school as an upperclassman for the first time. The idea of starting a blog was something I was indefinitely interested in, but I found a plethora of challenges along the way, especially in managing the blog’s UI. 

Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to continuing my studies here in the coming months as I head into the fall.