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Sarah Galloway

Professor Imhof

COMM 110

22 February 2017

Christina Hartman Interview

I interviewed Christina Hartman, work address is PO BOX 1576 Lancaster, PA 17608 or

so her website says, email address cmh@christinamhartman.com. She is a graduate with an

undergrad from George Washington University and graduate degree from Fordham University,

and has worked in the international affairs field for 18 years. She has worked in areas such as

Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, England, New York City, Lancaster, and Washington D.C. She

recently ran for congress in the 2016 election. We both sat down for a cup of coffee at Prince St.

Cafe at 4 oclock in the evening because of her hectic schedule and that seemed to be the best

place to meet for the both of us.

I had a few questions but before she began to answer she gave me an overview of her life.

She grew up in Lancaster county with both of her parents, her mother was a first-grade teacher

and her father was a store manager, she went to Manheim Township High School and briefly

touched on her time in D.C and New York for college. My first question was for her to describe a

typical day, which in response I received a chuckle. She said that she never really has a typical

day, its something thats more ever changing on a day-to-day basis. She spoke about her time

working with Democracy for America and Freedom House, going into detail of project

management and fundraising and its importance.

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Next, I asked about some of the disadvantages and the advantages to her field. She

replied with the advantages first, about how she enjoys her field most because of the intellectual

conversations she can have and the people are all around kind people. She said that for the

disadvantages she said that going into different cultures can be difficult. Because with

international affairs, she goes into other countries and discusses how to help other countries to

see democracy as a positive and provide insight on how to go about developing their country in

that way, it can be difficult to not make it seem like they are imposing America's values on other

countries and to not be culturally insensitive. Also, she spoke about how it is not always instant

gratification and it is mostly about being in it for the long haul. My next question was about

breaking into the field of international affairs, she gladly went into some things that employers

look in their new hires, such as international experience, language, flexibility since things can

change in an instance with projects and funding, hard worker, and a pick it up attitude. She said

that the last is important, because there is always a need, and sometimes, you may be hired and

then thrown into your position without much training.

Further, in our conversation, I asked a question that I was extremely curious about, which

was the life-work-balance. She told me that to her, life is her work, so in her case, it can be very

hard to have a balance of the two things. She mentioned and touched on that if I see a door open,

then walk through it, and if you dont enjoy the work, you can always leave. She gave me a few

pointers regarding going into the field, saying that collecting my tool box is important, such as

excel, word, knowledge in fundraising, management, and how to write a press release properly.

Another thing she said was to not plan your career, to have an idea, but dont make a plan

because within a moment that plan can be ruined.

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Throughout my time with Christina Hartman, we briefly went back and forth. After the

questions were finished, we spoke about current political themes and she asked me about myself,

where I was planning on transferring, career ideas, a possible summer internship and even the

possibility of working with incoming refugees, which is something that I recently have had on

my mind quite a lot.

I found myself surprised by her humor and all around kindness to everything I said, even

though I didnt always have the perfect words, neither did she. Above everything, by the end of

this interview, I wanted to work for her. Not because she could possibly become a member of

congress in the future, but because of the enthusiasm she has towards her field and the passion

and love she has for the Lancaster greater area. I could see myself going into this field to work

with other governments and people around the world.