Comps, job-seeking, and Ed.D. weekend

Happy Friday!  Hope everyone enjoyed their snow day yesterday (which was most of the East Coast, it seems).  It was nice to catch up on some reading and apply for jobs.  It's difficult to know exactly when to start applying considering we wouldn't be able to start until the end of May, but there are some positions that are looking for a later start date.  It would be amazing to have a job lined up at graduation, but I don't think that's feasible considering the hiring timeline for most Higher Ed jobs (people who are leaving tend to do so at the end of the school year, so a lot of job openings are posted in the summer).  This year went by SO quickly.  This time last year, I came to visit Penn during my spring break from teaching in Miami, and I remember the current students saying that the Higher Ed program flies by since it's only two semesters.  I believed them, but this takes on a whole new meaning when you experience it for yourself!

Speaking of graduation, next weekend is our comprehensive exam for Higher Ed Master's students.  Eeeekk.  What this means is that at 9AM on Friday, we get an email with two essay questions, and then we have the weekend to write a 2,000-word response.  Even though the actual paper is short, this exam is high-stakes since passing it is required for graduation.  We are also allowed to draw upon materials from our courses, but we have to do some outside research as well.  Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to this being over!

This weekend is our second doctoral weekend, but this time for Ed.D. applicants.  The events will be the same as those that I blogged about last week.  I'm looking forward to meeting some new people and eating delicious food! =)

Ph.D. weekend

This past weekend was extremely busy but also a lot of fun.  It was Ph.D. weekend, where GSE brings its top applicants to campus to find out more about the school and its programs.  We had applicants fly from as far away as Asia to visit Penn, so we wanted to make sure that they had the best time possible.  There were a lot of dinners, programs, and activities over the weekend, and myself and the other GAs had the opportunity to help with all of these.  Rather than describing everything, I decided to use pictures to illustrate the weekend.  

This is the Penn Museum, an on-campus venue where we held a dinner and reception on Saturday night.  The Ph.D. applicants as well as GSE faculty and staff had a busy day, so we wanted to plan a relaxing and enjoyable evening for them.

This is the room in which we held the dinner and reception.  Since the Penn Museum focuses on Archaeology and Anthropology, this room had an Egyptian theme and featured artifacts and paintings around the space where we had dinner.  It was really interesting!

A hallway of paintings in the Penn Museum.

The string quartet who performed at the event.  They played both modern and classical music, which was really cool!

 I shamelessly took pictures of my food the whole time.  Our first course was Caesar salad.

I ordered the filet for dinner...it's not often that us grad students get to eat steak!

Dessert!!

Myself (middle) with Amanda and Wesley, my co-GAs in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Myself, Amanda, and Joe (also a GA) at dinner.

The lighting was dim in the room where we held the reception, but this was a group picture of our table!  From left to right:  Jesse (GA), Monica (GA), Natalie (Director of Admissions and Financial Aid), Lauren (Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid), Joe (GA), Amanda (GA), and myself.  Wesley took this photo (thanks Wesley!).

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at a restaurant downtown that was attached to the hotel where the applicants were staying.  At this point I was feeling a little under the weather due to lack of sleep, so this was my morning "cocktail" (Emergen-C Vitamin C powder mixed with water)!

At breakfast we had 4 current Ph.D. students form a "New to Philly" panel, during which they answered questions about moving to and living in Philadelphia.  They did an amazing job!  They all made us laugh as well as provided so much helpful information (I've only lived here since August, so I learned a lot from them too!).  From right to left:  Demetri, Cecilia, Kelsey, and Jinsol.

After breakfast, we took the applicants on a tour of historic Philadelphia.  Our tour guide was wonderful--he used to be an 8th grade U.S. History teacher and is also a native Philadelphian, so he had a wealth of knowledge about Philadelphia history.  This photo in front of the Liberty Bell is of myself, Andrea, and Jesse, two of our GAs.

So those pictures pretty accurately sum up the weekend!  Last but not least, I wanted to give a huge shout-out to Lauren, our Assistant Director, for planning the whole weekend so successfully.  Everything went very smoothly due to her diligence and careful planning!  

"3-5 years of relevant experience required"

Happy Thursday, everyone =] This week was technically the first full week of the semester, considering that last week we had MLK day and a snow day, and the week before classes didn't begin until Wednesday.  While my classes this semester require slightly less reading and assignments than the last, I have a 6th class this semester--job hunting.  I say that because of the time and effort it will take to find a job.  Luckily both Penn and GSE have a lot of available resources, and even just being here offers so many networking opportunities for careers in higher education.  Penn itself is huge, and there are a ton of colleges and universities in and around Philadelphia.  Since my family is in New Jersey, I'd really like to stay in the area.  That being said, I know that jobs are scarce, so I'm planning to start looking as soon as possible.  

I'd like to start my career in higher education by working in Admissions (this is starting to sound like my cover letter).  I would prefer graduate admissions, but I'm flexible.  I realize that I likely won't be able to choose both the region and the exact area in which I work.  To be honest, I'm really nervous about beginning my job search.  I graduated from college in 2012 and taught high school for a year before enrolling at Penn in Fall 2013.  My program is only a year, so I'll be looking for jobs with only 1 year of full-time professional experience and 10 months at my graduate assistantship.  I just got my resume critiqued at the Career Center this morning, and the woman told me that I have a good variety of experience.  She told me that I am "in a good place" to begin the job hunt (I wonder if a lot of career advisers have counseling degrees?) I'm just concerned about my amount of previous experience.  I worry that with a Master's degree at age 24, I'm overqualified and underexperienced.  Let's just say that those job descriptions that want at least 3-5 years of experience are keeping me awake at night!

Returning from Winter Break

Well, classes started again after a wonderful three and a half weeks of vacation.  I know this sounds crazy, but I am terrible at having time off.  I'm so used to being busy that when I do have time off I actually don't know what to do with myself.  I end up sleeping late and watching way too many shows on Netflix for a few days, and then I have to do something productive.  I actually went back to work a week early since the Admissions office was really busy.  I also ended up having to get my wisdom teeth removed, so that took up some time as well and allowed me to watch more Netflix, guilt-free.  Also, my family went to Disney World for Christmas which was a lot of fun, and I spent New Year's in Philly with my best friends.  Aside from the wisdom teeth, it was a pretty awesome break!  

This week has been amazing since we had off on Monday for MLK day and then had a snow day yesterday.  I know I was just "complaining" about having time off, but surprise snow days are always nice.  I got ahead in some of my classes, made dinner, cleaned my apartment, and even baked banana bread which is very uncharacteristic of me (I'm not great at cooking or baking, but I'm getting better).  I also updated my resume and started to work on a cover letter...ahhh, the job hunt is starting!  I'll write more about that in the next few weeks.  I also have some pictures to post from winter break!

Holiday happenings in Philadelphia

Good afternoon. I'm in a much better state of mind this week since (most of) my finals are done.  I'm not yet ready to post the "I'm finished with finals!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Facebook status, but I'll get there eventually.  Tonight is the holiday party for the Higher Ed department, so I'm excited for that.  I'm also really happy that the place is 3 blocks from my apartment...when I was walking to work this morning, it seemed that there was some sort of "wintery mix" on the horizon.  

In honor of the winter/holiday season, I decided to post some links to events going on in the Philadelphia area.  

Ice skating at Penn's Landing
Philadelphia's version of ice skating at Rockefeller Center.  They convert a large parking lot at Penn's Landing into an ice skating rink.  Penn's Landing is right on the waterfront with gorgeous views of the city.  It'll be chilly, so bring your gloves, scarves, and earmuffs.

http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/places/blue-cross-riverrink

The Christmas Village in Philadelphia
From what I've heard and can tell from their website, this is set up like a traditional German Christmas market.  It takes place at Love Park (where the famous "LOVE" statue is, on 15th and Arch Streets in Center City).  Vendors from all over the world come to sell food, beverages, and crafts, and they also have live music and performances on some nights.

http://www.visitphilly.com/shopping/philadelphia/christmas-village-in-philadelphia/

Holiday lights!
Regardless of which (if any) winter holiday you celebrate, viewing holiday lights is sure to bring cheer to even the Grinchiest of Grinches (I just made that up).  Here is a link to the top places to view holiday lights both in and around Philadelphia.  

http://www.visitphilly.com/articles/philadelphia/top-holiday-lights-attractions-in-philadelphia/

Fireworks on New Year's Eve
Speaking of viewing brightly colored things, here is a list of the top places to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve!
http://www.visitphilly.com/articles/philadelphia/where-to-watch-new-years-fireworks/

Mummers Parade
The Mummers Parade is an annual tradition that takes place in Philadelphia on New Year's Day.  Since I don't know much about it, I copied and pasted some text from their website.  It sounds like a lot of fun:  An annual tradition, the Mummers Parade features 10,000 men and women dressed in colorfully lavish costumes as they twirl, sashay, pirouette and strut up one of the city’s main streets. An unforgettably wild ritual, the parade and subsequent performances are all family-friendly and fun for everyone.

http://www.visitphilly.com/events/philadelphia/the-mummers-parade/

A note about dining/going out in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve:
If you're planning to spend New Year's Eve in the city and this is your first time doing so (like me), I wanted to share some advice I got from friends who have lived here for a while.  

They recommended figuring out what you and your family/friends want to do ahead of time, and then buy tickets/make reservations ASAP.  Many of the fancier restaurants will have "prix fixe" menus on New Year's Eve, which means that they charge a flat rate of about $50-$75 and you can choose from a selection of entrees.  There are some places that don't do this, but regardless of where you choose to eat, everywhere will be crowded so it's best to book in advance.  In terms of places to go out after dinner, most bars and clubs will charge a cover fee, so my friends have recommended doing research ahead of time and finding a place to commit to.  

Hope this helps!  I'll write more over break :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Finals are here!  Needless to say, I'm less than thrilled that I have to write about 40 pages in the next ten days.  However, the fact that winter break is SO CLOSE is what is getting me through all of this.  Oh, and coffee.  Lots of caffeine.  I have to start my paper-writing really early and make a schedule for myself because I can't handle all-nighters or marathon writing sessions.  It's also tough because this is the season for holiday parties and celebrations, so I'm trying to finish my work somewhat early so I can actually participate in some of those things!  Grad school is definitely a lot tougher than undergrad in terms of having free time.  It might also be that the Higher Ed program is only 1 year, so we have 5 classes and then work 20 hours per week.  It saves a lot of money, but it's an intense year!  At this point I'm really ready to start working full-time, but I'm trying not to let my grades slip.  Next semester's course load will be a little bit easier though.  So now to power through the next 10 days!  Here are some cute pictures that I'm using to motivate myself:

Will anyone be in the Chicago area on Tuesday, 12/10 or NYC area Thursday, 12/12?!?

Hello everyone!  Hope you are enjoying the start of the holiday season (if I were on my iPhone right now I would add the snowman and snowflake emojis).  I wanted to share some information about two very exciting events that we have coming up next week for prospective students!

The Dean of GSE, Andy Porter, our Vice Dean, Alexis Wolson, and our new Director of Admissions, Natalie Herring will be traveling next week, so we are planning to have Holiday Reception/Meet the Dean events in both Chicago and NYC.  It will be a great opportunity to meet leaders from GSE, find out more about our degrees and programs, network, and enjoy some delicious food.  As a graduate student, I know that winter break is a popular time to work on applications, so this is the perfect time to celebrate the holidays and fall in love with Penn GSE =)  You can register/RSVP for these events by visiting our events page:  http://www.gse.upenn.edu/admissions_financial/events#off_campus

Here are the details for each event:

Chicago
Tuesday, December 10th, 6-8PM
Gleacher Center at the University of Chicago
450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive
Room 420 (South Lounge)

New York City
Thursday, December 12th, 6-8PM
Grand Hyatt New York
Park Avenue at Grand Central
Uris Room

I've been working on planning these events and I definitely recommend going.  I'm putting together the catering menus right now and getting hungry just thinking about it!