Summary
My name is Ani Prakash. I am a current undergraduate student at George Mason University majoring in Global Affairs. I am currently the News Director for US onAir and will prospectively serve as the Director and Chapter Leader for our next overseas onAir network, India onAir.
I am working with Democracy onAir because as someone who is keen on studying world affairs and who has developed an interest in domestic politics and foreign policy at a younger age, I have always expressed a passion towards improving the frameworks of our country’s democracy as well as electoral systems that are vital towards preserving the democratic freedoms our nation’s founders have developed.
OnAir Post: Ani Prakash
News
Former US President Abraham Lincoln once quoted that “a democracy is of the people by the people, and for the people ”. I remember firsthand witnessing our democracy being under siege when I watched the Capitol building being looted on January 6th by a coalition of insurrectionists and supremacist organizations, in an attempt to subvert the certification process over Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Both my parents and I held feelings of distraught, after witnessing what was noted to be one of the worst attacks against our country’s regional security and national institutions since September 11th. My parents were appalled by some of the demonstrations and internally encountered a series of questions that each illustrated, “Is this what our democracy consists of? or Is this how we represent our traditions of democracy on the world stage”.
Democracy is truly the most important government system that establishes a strong connection not only towards our family values but also to our personal lives. When my parents first immigrated to this country in 1997, they knew for sure that aspects surrounding the United States being acknowledged as a “city on a hill” were the reasons behind their decision to settle in this country. Their decisions to engage in political participation as well as electing politicians of their choice enabled them to earn their first taste of true democracy, a symbol of equality, freedom and inclusiveness. Democracy, as an emblem of our republic, is what matters to me heavily because personally, this system not only changed my parent’s lives but its key tenets of equality and transparency are impactful towards myself and the lives of many.
Democracy is the linchpin behind our country’s government since its key elements of freedom, transparency, and inclusiveness are what our Founding Fathers considered as the ideal makeup of our nation’s republic. Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed that, “a democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely”. Our nation’s representative democracy symbolized the United States for centuries, yet issues regarding insurrections on federal institutions and misinformation attacks towards election results have clearly placed our democracy in peril and under siege. For our democracy to be preserved and safeguarded over future disturbances intending to rupture our government, it is time that we take a stand towards reforming our nation’s electoral systems.
To improve our frameworks of democracy, we must consider the For the People Act of 2021, a House Resolution underscoring an intention to expand voting rights and implement structural reforms towards our nation’s democratic systems. The need for election integrity regulations and adequate strategies to protect US democratic institutions are vital solutions that are essential not just for the prevention of hyper-partisan gerrymandering but for preserving our nation’s frameworks of democracy. Democracy is a basic necessity for our country’s survival and without any form of enforcement to defend this model of governance, our democratic systems as well as our nation entirely would cease to exist. As John Adams once quoted, “a democracy never lasts too long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and even worse can murder itself”.
About
Education
Education
George Mason University August 2020-May 2024
Bachelor of Arts: Global Affairs
Cumulative GPA: 3.98
Bridgewater-Raritan High School, Bridgewater, NJ September 2016-June 2020
High School Diploma
Experience
Vice President
Company Name
VerDay Inc
Dates EmployedMar 2019 – Present
Employment Duration2 yrs 11 mos
LocationBridgewater, New Jersey
Summer Trainee
Company Name
Washington International Diplomatic Academy
Dates EmployedJul 2021
Employment Duration1 mo
Principal
Company Name
BR-Morgan Stanley Mock Venture Capital Firm
Dates EmployedJan 2019 – Jun 2020
Employment Duration1 yr 6 mos
Treasurer@Google CS First
Company Name
Dates EmployedJan 2019 – Jun 2020
Employment Duration1 yr 6 mos
Communications Director at TILE^Bridgewater-Raritan
Company Name
TILE.org
Dates EmployedDec 2018 – Jun 2020
Employment Duration1 yr 7 mos
Skills
Languages:
English(native/bilingual)
Russian(limited-working proficiency)
Spanish(limited-working proficiency)
Proficiency over Microsoft Suite applications(Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook)
My Major
My decision to pursue Global Affairs as a major for my undergraduate studies dates back to my interests in World History that I’ve developed back in elementary school. During those times, I was always passionate in learning about historical events and the development of early civilizations that shaped our modern world, from Egypt and Mesopotamia to India, China, and Ancient Greece. My passions towards studying global historical events and civilizations that dominated our world in its early times were some of the key determinants behind my decision to consider International Relations as a degree to pursue for my college education. Towards the end of my sophomore year in high school, I was a bit clueless over the fields I should consider studying and the career opportunities I may be granted with regards to the discipline I select. I was beating myself around the bush, expressing my doubts over whether to choose computer science, business, chemical engineering, or accounting as a degree to pursue in college. However, I was able to recall some of my interests I reveled both in elementary and middle school, which were history and politics.
I started to conduct some extensive research online to try and figure out the fields/disciplines that best match the interests I generated. I came across two studies that I felt were the most intriguing, which were political science and international relations. Out of those two, the one that grabbed my attention the most was international relations so I did a little bit of research just to grasp details behind what this field entail as well as some of the facets illustrated behind this discipline. Since this field had something to do with politics, law, economics, and security but broadened under a global perspective, this was palatable to my desires so by the start of my high school junior year, I was clear to both my parents, counselors, and friends that I wanted to pursue international relations(global affairs) as a major for my undergraduate college education.
My Professional Goals
After graduating from Mason, one of my long-term professional goals I intend on pursuing is working at the US Foreign Service under the State Department. I hope to serve as a US Diplomat(Foreign Service Officer), working at an embassy abroad or at a permanent mission of a multilateral organization. I hope to represent my country as an Ambassador and present myself in the frontline of US diplomatic statecraft, whether its negotiating trade agreements or other diplomatic conventions with host nations, brokering ceasefires for regional conflicts, mobilizing humanitarian assistance or emergency response coordinators to regions inflicted with humanitarian disasters, and fostering multilateral relations with two or more countries, either through cultural diplomacy or facilitation of joint-military exercises between the United States and the host nation I would serve under.
Along with the Foreign Service, another one of my professional goals include working as an analyst or intelligence officer under the US Intelligence Community. I intend on serving as either a political or military affairs analyst of the CIA, Foreign or Security Policy Analyst of the Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA), or an Intelligence Analyst at the National Security Agency(NSA). I hope to represent my country as a senior intelligence official working to preserve US national security and safeguard our interests abroad, whether it’s through clandestine operations launched or assessments and analytical briefs I would draft that would each entail some of the indicators our nation should be aware of with regards to the future of our national security.
Web Links
Politics
Source: none
New Legislation
OnAir Activities
I am curating US foreign policy news events through the US onAir hub.
I am directing Wisconsin OnAir
I am also directing Ukraine onAir and after November 8th, will direct India onAir.
Posts curating:
- Issues: Climate Change/US Governance and Ukraine/Russia
- Committee: Intelligence
- Subcommittee: Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation
- VA Representative: Abigail Spanberger
- University: University of Wisconsin-Madison
