Higher Education Potluck

I love to cook, so what better way to express this than a potluck event!

We had a potluck  at Jen's house (shout out to her!) this past Saturday evening. The event was wonderful and it was nice seeing everyone out of the academic context and just relax. Over 20 of the higher education cohort came out to the event! We had a good time just chatting about everything and enjoying each other's company. Our program manager, Ross, even came by to say hello! I hope we can do this  once every 6 weeks or so.

Everyone brought wonderful yummy dishes and we even had a mini competition between the desserts.
Whose dish was the best? You be the judge :D yummy yummy!

**Unfortunately I did not get a picture of everyone's dishes.**

Thammika and I made this! Pastrami and collard greens

Pumpkin shortbread dessert - Joanna

Flan - Carolina

Baked ziti - Amanda!

Roasted butternut squash with beets cream sauce - Me and Thammika!

Enchiladas! - Karla

Mac n  Cheese! - Shawn

House salad - Samantha

MOST of the meals on the table

It was definitely a good stress reliever! But now this week will be tough again with papers and presentations. A quick charge and then we are off to more work!

Throwback Thursday - Food edition!

Hey all,

Another update on my cooking experiences over the past month or so! Here are some of the better results. I  will say....I am definitely getting used to my small kitchen in the apartment.

Nothing too disastrous has happened (no smoke alarm or dropped food!) yet so fingers crossed as I explore more cooking in the future!

First time cooking steak! Pan seared with salt/pepper/onion powder rub

Full meal: sauteed carrots and potatoes, salad, and steak!

string bean + stir fry tomato and egg

What do you do on weekends?

Finally! The weekend came and went and I finally had some time to take a deep breath! I mentioned in my previous blog that last week was going to be hard, and boy was I right... The 3 papers definitely got to me at various times during the week and I struggled to keep everything in line. BUT that is all in the past and I am ready for the new week!

I took a few prospective students on tours recently and they all asked me a similar question: "Wesley, what do you do on weekends?"

Well, I'd say it depends on the workload for the upcoming week! Sometimes I will have 3 papers due and so I will most likely to holed up in my room trying to be productive. Sometimes when there are no assignments due, I like to explore the city and try new things! I really like our standing happy hour each Friday because it really gives me a chance to relax and chat with my cohort members (some of whom I may have ignored during the week cuz I was so busy, sorry!).

I have also started a trend of potlucks! We have a potluck coming up this weekend with several of my cohort members and I am excited to cook something. (Pics will be posted here!)

Speaking of cooking, weekends are also the time when I can actually get a bit fancier with my dishes instead of the usual quick and easy meals of sandwiches, rice, or dumplings. I cooked eggplant parmesan this past weekend so I will post some pics here for everyone to see! Again, I am relatively new at cooking so you will definitely see some successes and failures in the future (luckily this one was a success)

All the ingredients ready! (including that giant eggplant)

finished product!

finished product take 2

The grind is on...

Whew... This week is indeed hectic.

I have three papers due this week on top of the usual readings I have for each class. Many of my cohort members have mentioned the struggle bus; this week I am definitely on the struggle bus, maybe even driving it. I am looking forward to this Friday for my breather but this week definitely will be one of my hardest week thus far.

All aboard!!

There come a time when everyone will hit a wall in the middle of the semester. We did not get a fall break like the undergraduates and we have not had a holiday break to help us de-stress a bit. The readings and papers, however, are churning out like clockwork and we need to  This is when friends, family, and any other kind of support you have will come in handy. I will be exercising and sweating it out during some nights to relieve some of the stress I am feeling this week. I will also be reaching out to my support group if it gets any harder. I am glad I made quite a few friends already :)

There isn't much to post this week except for all the studying and paper writing that is going on, so I will post a cute picture that have cheered me up throughout the day :D (my doggy back in CA)

The grind of a graduate student is on...let's do this

Reading Terminal Market

This weekend was my roommate's birthday, so I decided to treat him out to lunch. We went to the Reading Terminal Market (since several of my cohort members recommended it) and walked around. The place is really nice (although a bit crowded at times - lunch rush hour) and there were a lot of food and nifty cool stuff to look at. We went straight to Beiler's donuts and got a half dozen of those (THEY ARE DELICIOUS). I would recommend going there first because some of the popular flavors tend to run out really quickly. Then we walked around and tried various food. We were stuffed with crepes and sandwiches and other breakfast food before we slowly walked outside to catch the subway home. It's definitely a nice place to stop by for lunch! And it's right next to Chinatown!

Beiler donuts...soooo good

BIG pumkin

Here's me next to it for reference

Dutch breakfast place....sooo goood as well!

Pancakes were fluffy and delicious!

Cooking

So I promised to post some of my cookings online and I have been terrible at keep track. Instead of scattering them all over my various blog posts I will just dedicate one to my cookings thus far!

**BE WARNED...I am still learning!!**

Indian Paneer sauce with bell peppers over rice

Chicken tacos with corn salsa

Fettuccine Alfredo with mushroom and spinach 

Indian Curry with Bok Choy

Sausages and Peppers (with a little bit of mushroom)

Pasta with garlic sauce and baby broccoli 

Washington DC Idealist Grad Fair

Hi everyone,

It's definitely been a hectic week, but I still want to check in and let you all know what went on this week! As usual, I had one paper due this week for one of my classes so I did not get to sleep that much this week (It's become a weekly trend of at least one paper due for a class).

BUT I did do something different, I went to Washington DC on Tuesday and attended to Idealist Grad Fair with my co-worker, Janeen! It was my first time on an official off-campus graduate fair so I will go moment by moment! (and of course, pictures!)


The Train ride/walk there
So this is my first time taking the Amtrak to another city. I never had to take the Amtrak living in California (because driving to places was way easier). I was very surprised at the similarities to airports and airplanes! The inside of the train felt exactly like that of an airplane, except slightly bigger. I tried to work on my paper during the train ride but it was kind of bumpy along the way (still got a little bit done).

inside of DC union station...beautiful

walked by this sign while on my way to convention center

After I arrived, I was instantly amazed at the sheer size and beauty of DC Union Station. It feels like a mall in there! I didn't get the chance to walk around but I definitely was impressed with the entire place being so fancy! I got out of the building and walked 8 blocks to the convention while admiring the nearby apartment buildings and streets! Definitely a different feel from Philly. I am glad I am getting this experience to travel to other places than Philly.

The event (convention center)
The convention center is HUGE. It took me a good 5 minutes to walk to the end of the convention center to where the idealist grad fair was held. I helped Janeen set up and we were good to go! We had a LOT of prospective students come and speak to us. One student in particular commented that it was nice to speak to a current student (ME!) than all the admission counselors. I felt good after hearing that, knowing that I made a small difference in someone's life :D

some cool designs inside

birds eye view of the fair

Our GSE desk!

The run back to the train!
The event was from 5pm-8pm and we ended a bit late (around 8:15PM). After realizing that my train leaves at 8:45PM, I fast-walked straight to the train station. Whew...that was tiring, but I made it with 5 mins to spare! Overall it was a great trip, I got to see what an off-campus recruitment fair looks like and meet lots of prospective students. It was super fun experience, and now it's time to get back to work!