Samuel Ajala’s Field Notes
Monday is the first day of my week and it is usually one of the busiest days, though I work from home all week. I start my day by planning and strategizing for the week.
Monday is the first day of my week and it is usually one of the busiest days, though I work from home all week. I start my day by planning and strategizing for the week.
I was amazed by the vibrant energy of the conference, reconnecting with familiar faces and meeting new colleagues.
I normally use Mondays as an admin day to catch up on emails from the weekend and plan out my to-do lists for the week.
My Mondays normally start off with a look at my emails, planning for the week, and maybe writing a daily digital and radio story. I usually meet with my editor in the early afternoon to go over my plan for the week. Some Mondays, I have interviews in the field for stories I’m working on.
After a long day of back-to-back workshops, I went to a reception organized by Climate Central and Impact US at Strangelove´s. I wasn't going to attend because the temperature was near 50ºF, combined with heavy rains and strong winds. However, it was a unique experience, and I wanted to meet others.
This week, my parents came from Hong Kong, where I was born and raised, to visit me and celebrate the Lunar New Year. This is both the first time they have visited the Boston area and the first time I have celebrated Lunar New Year with my family since I moved to the States in 2018.
Come with me to the UN annual conference on climate change in Dubai, where I’m working alongside youth from all over the world to track negotiations and push for an equitable fossil fuel phase-out.
Thursdays are my creative powerhouse – scripting, editing, and filming for Notes By Niba and hosting TikToks for SciShow. The day concludes with a casual dinner, an opportunity to unwind and connect with friends.
Once I've got my caffeine (black tea) and breakfast, it's off the races. This week, I'm tackling edits on an environmental justice story I'm working on about a neighborhood in a city in Texas.
Mondays tend to have a lot of meetings. An important one is attending the Senior Staff meeting to understand what all of the program offices and divisions -- Air and Radiation, Water, Superfund, and Emergency Management, among others -- are currently working on.