The Adventure Begins!

Wow.  What a year it has been!

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Will Mount, and I'm a rising 3L [assuming I pass, ha!] at the University of Miami School of Law.  I am also about to be an intern for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda[ICTR] in Arusha, Tanzania.  Not to be cliche, but this is going to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" adventure, and I created this blog as a common space to share my adventure with family, friends, and members of the University of Miami community.  I plan to post on least a weekly basis, if not more.  I also plan to post pictures here, so that you can see what I'm doing.

Prior to beginning this blog, I think it is incredibly important to reflect and thank the people who helped get me to Africa.

First,  I want to thank Dean Marni Lennon and the Helping Others through Pro Bono Efforts [HOPE] office at the University of Miami.  Without generous funding from the HOPE Fellows program, this opportunity would have never happened.  Please check out their website at http://www.law.miami.edu/hope/.

Along these lines, I want to specifically thank Lara O'Neill, who also works with HOPE.  I never thought about working internationally before I met her, and she inspired me to apply to the ICTR as well as to receive HOPE funding.  She is a phenomenal resource on the UM Law campus, especially for anyone who wants to work internationally during their law school career.

I also wish to thank Henry, a former ICTR intern, for all of the wonderful advice that he gave me.  His enthusiasm for Africa and the ICTR work is definitely contagious.  He was also a great resource to answer all of the questions that I have as I am going over there.

I also want to thank Daniel, a returning ICTR intern over this summer.  He has also given me great advice as well as he has helped introduced me to a lot of people within the ICTR network.  I look forward to exploring Tanzania with him over the summer.

I also want to thank my family and friends for their support over the summer.  This journey does not come without its sacrifices.  First, I want to thank my friends, Jon and Jackie, for understanding that I won't be at their wedding mid-summer [congratulations]!  They have been two of my closest friends since college, and I'm quite excited for them getting married; but I regret not being there.  Additionally, I want to thank my parents for always supporting my adventures and "seizing the day."  Without passing on their hard-work, do-the-right-thing mentality, I don't know if I would have achieved half of the goals that I've achieved in my life.  Finally, I want to thank Beth, my fiance, for being an incredibly encouraging and wonderful partner.  It is a lot to let your significant other to go off to a foreign country for three months; but Beth was on board, encouraging the adventure from day one.

Thanks to everyone and I look forward to talking to you through this blog over the summer!