I decided to make this post about this past weekend, which might be a sign of how ready I am for this upcoming weekend. I don't have any particularly exciting plans, but I usually do the majority of my schoolwork during the week, so I'm excited to have a bit of downtime. This past weekend was pretty busy. Friday night I went to a gala held by the Graduate Student Association at Penn. The dress code was all-white, which made for some interesting outfits. My favorite was a classmate of mine who wore a white jumpsuit with a hood. They had good music, dancing, drinks, and snacks.
Graduate Student Gala at WorldCafe Live!
Saturday I did some homework and planned to go to a Graduate Student carnival later in the day (never too old for a carnival, or a petting zoo), but it was canceled because of the rain. I had a friend visiting though so we walked around University City.
Picture of the Philly skyline that I took from Penn Park, which is where the athletic fields are.
Later on Saturday night, I had some of the best Mexican food of my life at a place called El Limon in Conshohocken, which is right outside of Philly.
Chicken mole enchiladas from El Limon. Delicious!
On Sunday my family came to visit from New Jersey, and we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Philly has some amazing food (see above), but my family is very traditional when it comes to restaurant choices! Eventually I'll get them to try some new things :)
I'll wrap this up for now, but I'll be posting again soon.
Last night I got 10 hours of sleep, and then woke up to the sound of a jackhammer outside my window (they are doing construction across the street from my apartment). Sleeping and working out are becoming my favorite activities. Thursdays are a long day (GA from 11-3, class from 4:30-8:30), but I do get to sleep in a little bit since I don't start until 11. Before I went to sleep last night, I had visions of waking up early, taking time to actually do my hair and makeup, and maybe even picking up coffee on my way to work. Needless to say, I rolled out of bed at 10:15, scrambled to pack my lunch, decided that eyeliner was enough makeup for the day, and ended up making Keurig coffee when I got to work (Side note: a Keurig is going to be one of my first purchases once I get a full-time job. Other side note: my mother will likely read this post and will scold me for sleeping so late. Hi Mom!)
This week I had a total of 10 pages of writing due; 7 pages for one class, 3 for another. I get terrible anxiety if I save papers until the night before, so I really tried to get all of them done ahead of time. I know that won't always be possible due to the volume of work involved in a 1-year Master's program, but it's comforting to know that today after 4 hours of work and 4 hours of class, I can go home and relax instead of writing! I have It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia DVR'ed and waiting for me when I get home. I'm going to two events for Penn's GradFest this weekend--a carnival and a gala. Pictures and updates to come!
I just started my third week of classes and my graduate assistantship (from now on I'll refer to it as my GA). Things are definitely picking up around the office and in my classes. The Higher Education program is unique in that it can be completed in one year, but it is five graduate courses per semester along with 20 hours per week at a GA. It definitely makes for a busy schedule, but I tend to be more productive when I have things to do (my incredibly unproductive summer anything serves as a testament to that). So for now, I have been making a lot of lists and going through stacks of Post-It notes, as well as bringing back some of my speed-reading skills from college. I really enjoy my courses and my GA so that helps. It's amazing how quickly the day goes by when you actually like what you're doing!
I also started working out at the Pottruck Fitness Center at Penn. It's right across from the GSE building. I bring a change of clothes with me when I go to work/class so I have no excuse not to go on my way home! I used to do CrossFit last year when I was living in Miami, and I miss it a lot. Right now I don't have the time or funds to continue with CrossFit, but the fitness center is beautiful, affordable, and they also offer various types of group exercise classes. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll go to one of the classes. Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing :)
This past Friday I went on a walking tour of Old City that was organized by the Graduate Student Center at Penn. It was really interesting to see some of the historical sites and to learn more about Philly. I grew up in New Jersey, but before coming to Penn, I'd only been to Philly a few times. After the tour, I explored Old City with a few friends from the Higher Education program and we got dinner at a restaurant called Revolution House. On Saturday I went to Ocean City with another friend from my program, which was also a lot of fun. I grew up about 40 minutes from the Jersey shore, so it's comforting that Philly isn't too far from a beach!
Okay, back to work! I'm in the process of planning several admissions events for the Fall. More updates soon :)
This feels very momentous considering it is not only my first post on here, but my first blog post ever. Hopefully I don't get too carried away and start focusing more on blogging than school work! ;)
I just finished my first week of classes and my graduate assistantship (GA), followed by a tiring but exciting Labor Day weekend. I really like my classes and professors, and it's refreshing to do readings on topics that I'm really interested in. I majored in History for undergrad, so I'm used to tons of reading, but this feels a lot more practical. Additionally, the professors all have such diverse and interesting backgrounds/research interests/work experiences. I feel that I will learn a lot from each of them! The Higher Education program requires 5 classes per semester, which is one more than average for most Master's programs. This allows us to finish our degrees in one year, but I'm bracing myself for a very busy year!
The graduate assistantship (GA) is an integral part of the Higher Ed Master's program here at Penn GSE. It's a way for us to gain work experience in higher education by working in various offices around Penn and other colleges in Philly. Most of us work between 15-20 hours per week. My GA is in GSE Admissions, which I'm really happy about since I would like to work in admissions after graduating. The title of my position is Enrollment Management Events, so I help plan different types of interest sessions and events geared towards prospective students.
Week 1 of grad school was also my 3rd week living in Philly. I grew up and went to college in New Jersey, so I'm familiar with the area, but I've never actually lived in the city. I love it so far! Philly is easy to navigate and there are a ton of fun things to do on the weekends, both at Penn and around the city. This past Saturday I went to the Made in America music festival by the Philadelphia Art Museum. It was really crowded and involved standing for nine hours, but my friends and I managed to get really close to the stage for Beyonce's performance. She was amazing! On Sunday I went kayaking in the Schuylkill river with two friends from the Higher Ed program. It was quite a workout and we got a little lost (couldn't bring cell phones on the kayak, so we had to use a paper version of Google maps!) but it was so much fun.
Well, I'll wrap this up for now. I'll continue to update on classes/work/Philly life. Thanks for reading! Feel free to post comments and questions.
