Thomas McGath

Un trabajo:

Research or advocacy position. Looking to get my feet wet in the world of policy or international relations.

Última actualización: 24/02/2013 22:49:52  

Oportunidad de voluntariado:

I want to help promote egalitarian economics and human rights. Willing to help in any way possible; proofreading, graphic design, or editorial work.

Última actualización: 24/02/2013 22:52:55  

I want to tell you a story. And that story is my story. My name is Thomas McGath and I was born on May 8^th, 1988. This remarkable date is also known as Victory in Europe Day. 1988 was not a particularly "normal" year either; Gorbachev introduced perestroika on January 1^st, 1988 which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Moreover, I am not exactly a normal person; I am left-handed and I suffer from a disease which affects only 1 in every 544 Americans. When I was eleven I wrote a full-length novel which was more than 80,000 words long. No other students in the history of St. John the Baptist Elementary School have submitted something as long to the creative writing contest. I was also the first and only boy born of the eight offspring of Rita DeCamp until I was eight years old; and the only one to break both his arms within one year.

In high school I was the President of my chorus and subsequently cast as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance. I was also elected as a moderator of an online forum with more than 40,000 members. I was also the only person in my family who designed his own website from scratch using HTML (no FrontPage, sorry!) and Photoshop. When I worked at Quatrefoil Associates I was the only person allowed to learn on the job; and learn I did. I taught myself without prior knowledge how to code in Visual Basic and was entrusted with designing graphic interface designs for museum exhibits that still are in operation at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey and Discovery Place in North Carolina.

In college and my subsequent work experience, I avoided the ordinary. I was the first in my extended family of forty-something to live on campus. And I was also the first to graduate with a dual major. During my studies I aimed big; two of my finest essays respectively conceptualized and explained the core lessons of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (a fairly gargantuan task) and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. To do so I took initiative and developed my own rubric to meet the assignment. In 2009, I was the only University of Maryland student to initiate contact with a non-partnered University and enroll directly for study abroad admission. I was also the only one to study in Ireland. While in Ireland I took it upon myself to join and help fundraise for the University College Dublin Society. I was the only American in the society. Perhaps foolhardily, I was also the only exchange student to spend his time in Germany and Hungary during his exam-review-week. However, it was a good thing I went to Germany because it kindled my love for German culture, which inspired me to become the only person I know that has taught himself German. I am fairly sure I am also the only one who entirely translated a German language course out of German and French into English for personal use. But, you might want to ask my lawyer in case Assimil gets angry about that.

While at Vocus, I did not do normal work. I constantly created guides for other researchers to help them; I led projects on German to English translation. I was one of only five to be extended from the original international research team. I was also the only one of those original researchers to turn down full-employment because Vocus did not meet my personal expectations.

If we were to do the statistics, it looks grim. Approximately 1 in 7,067,801,773 people (according to the United States Census Bureau as of 11:04 February 21, 2013) have written a novel; are left-handed; have broken both arms; suffer from a chronic intestinal disease; have played the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance; have lived in Ireland; have made their own website; have created standing exhibits in current museums; have taught themselves Visual Basic; and are fluent in German as a foreign language. Though I would have to get back to you on the exact numbers, I believe my statistics will hold up. And because of this I am one in the world; I am Thomas McGath and I want to work for you. I want you to offer me something, a chance to be one in a world again. Please consider what you as an employer have to offer me; I would not have applied if I did not think it was something special.

egalitarian economics.