New York!

This past weekend I traveled to New York to meet up with some my friends at Columbia University. It was my first time taking the Megabus from Philadelphia to New York so it was definitely be an adventure.

Now let's recap the trip!

beautiful skyline picture from central park!

First day
Megabus experience was actually not too bad. I found it rather quickly at the 30th street station and found a seat immediately (It does help to come early to get in line). As soon as the bus departed I just fell asleep! I guess the cold weather outside and the warm interior of the bus made it really comfortable. I woke up to find the bus stuck in New York Friday afternoon rush hour (TERRIBLE). The bus crawled slowly until it finally reached the destination where it dropped us off. I then took the Metro subway all the way to the hotel. Let's just say, New York rush hour time in the subway is NOT FUN...But I arrived safely and met all of my friends for dinner that night. Apparently my friends from California LOVES Shake Shack so that was where we went for dinner!

After dinner we just walked around to the Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and stopped by a mac and cheese place near NYU called S'Mac (which was delicious by the way).

The sampler with 8 different kinds of mac and cheese!

Second Day
The busy day began again as we ventured out to Ellen's Stardust Diner. If you haven't heard of this place, YOU HAVE TO GO AT LEAST ONCE. It is a diner where the waitstaff are all borderline Broadway stars with amazing singing voices. So during your lunch or dinner you will get to hear them sing in the restaurant, and maybe it will be your specific waitstaff who is the superstar! Absolutely one of the best places I have ever been in my whole life.

Not too far from Times Square!

After the diner we walked around Central Park and explored Highline park as well. I don't want to bore you all with all the details of the trip but my personal must do thing at New York besides all the usual attractions is the Stardust Diner! Your won't regret it!

Campus Visits

In about two weeks we will no longer help set up campus visits until after winter break (January 13th). Therefore I would like to take this time to reflect on my experiences with campus visits and describe some benefits of coming to visit the campus.

When I was applying for schools, I never thought of visiting the schools until AFTER I got accepted. Looking back now I realized that if I had visited each grad school individually before applying, I would have been more informed in my choices of grad school. Don't get me wrong, I am very lucky and satisfied to have landed at  Penn GSE, but I felt that I did not give a few grad schools their fair chance to represent themselves. The interviews and visits after acceptance will be hectic and all over the place, so going to a few places before the application is due can also help alleviate some of that pressure.

Several of my cohort members did visit the campuses both before submission of the application AND after acceptance. I think that is the best way to truly gauge at your interest and understand what you really want out of that particular program. Higher Education is very different in many schools, some with one year degrees and some with two year degrees. Having visited each school and understanding why some schools have one or two year programs can be an important factor in your decision making.

We all talk about "fit" but really the phrase just means which university suits you as an individual. It could be from anything as small as food options around campus to bigger reasons like professor's research. Whatever it may be, once you have decided what a complete grad school experience should be like for you, that's when you can seek out the campus visits and figure out the your "fit" with the school.

Happy application season everyone and good luck!

Sleep debt

It is real, and I firmly believe in sleep debt. This is a concept I learned while at UCLA. It is a popular social psychology phenomenon where a person feels the fatigue from cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. Short term sleep debt can lead to foggy brain, worsened vision, and trouble remembering things. Long term sleep debt is even worse and can lead to obesity and heart disease.

In case you all are shocked by this, let me cite some advice from the Scientific American magazine!

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Scientific American

The good news is that, like all debt, sleep debt can be repaid - thought it won't happen in one extended snooze marathon. The best way to repay sleep debt is to tack on an extra hour or two a night. For those who have months of sleep debt, it is better to take it easy for the next couple of months and slowly rework the sleeping pattern to normal.

The the recovery sleep, both the hours slept and the intensity of sleep are important. Some of your most refreshing sleep is during your deep sleep (REM stage).

As you erase sleep debt, you will come to find out about your specific sleeping patterns that works for you. Sleep researchers believe that genes determine our individual sleeping patterns. So, you can "train" yourself to be a short sleeper and survive with only a few hours of sleep.


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This past week has been tough with two papers on the same day, group projects, and graduate assistantship. Now that I am done, I will slowly repay my sleep debt over the next few days and over the weekend. After that, it's right back to work! :D

One of my favorite cartoon, Pon and Zi

Public Service Announcement

Hi All,

Here is something important that the admissions and financial aid office wants to tell everyone!

REMINDER!

The deadline to apply for all Ph.D. programs for Fall 2014 enrollment is SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2013!

This means ALL materials must be received by the admissions office by that date.

All applications received by that date are guaranteed a faculty review of all materials.

If you have not yet taken the GRE, you must do so no later than NOVEMBER 22, 2013 or your test scores will not make it to us in time.

We always recommend that you submit your application and materials earlier rather than waiting until the absolute last day!

Any questions? Please email admissions@gse.upenn.edu or give us a call at (215)898-6415.

The calm before the storm...

Hello everyone,

I figure I would check in before the crazy stressful times hit again. Next week I have two BIG papers due and I am slowly getting a head start this week. I have figured out a small trend this semester. I usually have big papers due every other week, so my hard work during the off weeks would have a huge impact on whether or not I will be stressed the following week. HOWEVER, it is easier said than done. I have found myself relaxing a bit more during the off weeks and ending up stressing over the exact same things a week later. Since we did not get a formal break (fall break), this on-week/off-week system has been going on for almost 11 weeks. I came from a undergraduate institution (UCLA) that had quarters instead of semesters and so my mind began to d r i f t off during the 9th week mark. It has definitely been a challenge trying to convince myself that I still have 6+ weeks of school left.

I didn't think it would be a big deal, but having gone through 4 years of quarter system, a semester seems like eternity. I don't have a solid plan yet to deal with this yet, but my first step is definitely getting myself out of my room and into libraries and graduate student center. I have also tried to space out my break times throughout the day so I have time to relax and not panic all at once.

Next week will be stressful...here's to hoping that I am studious enough this week!

This may not, obviously, be applicable to everyone. But it is something interesting to think about -- the transition from a quarter system to a semester system.

Preparing for winter - California version

It is getting cold! For those of you who just started reading my blogs, I grew up in California pretty much all of my life and I have never been through a full "east coast" winter.

It was really exciting for me to start planning for the cold weather. My cohort members were really nice in guiding me on what I need to get before winter officially hits. I learned so much just from listening to the suggestions (what do you mean my beanie from California is not warm enough?) (What is long johns?) (scarves??) It was the perfect time for everyone to poke fun at this California kid, but hey, I took it as a sign of love. My cohort members truly care for me and want me to be prepared.

I invested in my first heavy duty winter coat (water proof, wind proof, everything proof). I only knew one brand, North Face, because several of my friends back home actually love that brand. Through cohort recommendations I learned about different brands such as Marmot, Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), etc. There is a secret part of me that loves to shop so learning about these brands was definitely a fun experience. I ultimately decided on a EMS jacket (because I am on a grad student budget and these jackets are REALLY REALLY expensive). I have to say though, I am excited to start wearing that beast of a jacket.

EMS 3-in-1 jacket! It's a beast!

Anyway, I can say with confidence that I am ready for this winter. I got my gloves, earmuffs, winter jacket, long sleeves to layer, and everything. The last thing I am waiting for is a pair of boots that is coming in the mail soon. That is another thing that I have never owned prior to coming to UPenn, BOOTS!

Needless to say, I am quite excited for winter! Let's see if this enthusiasm will last :)

Reflecting on the past 10 weeks

I saw my other colleagues have done some reflection on this semester so I have decided to recap everything that has happened this semester and do a little reflecting myself :D

We have passed the halfway point and are now in the midst of grad school! No more honeymoon period! As you all can see, we have already experienced several moments of high stress (struggle bus), but we have all persevered.

That is probably my theme for the first half of this semester, transition and perseverance. 

The first few weeks into the school year was transition transition transition. Not only was I meeting new friends left and right (and even more later down the road), I also had to prepare myself mentally for class and the endless readings. The unspoken  was also getting my apartment ready so it's LIVABLE. That meant grocery shopping and getting everything ready so I can actually cook and survive in my apartment. Knowing that I cannot live off ramen and eating out everyday, I made a conscious effort to try to cook a few times each week. One of my cohort members, Thammika, introduced me to the CSA vegetable shares and so that got me eating some sort of veggies each week (because keeping fit and healthy was also something that is on the back of everyone's mind). Grad School 15? That definitely exists!!! It may seem like a whirlwind of things to get used to, but it was also a fun and exciting times. If I had to go back in time, I would NOT change my approach at all. I genuinely enjoyed everything that has transpired, from the friends I have met to the classes I have taken. I think coming in with an open mind and an open heart definitely contributed to my perseverance to continue working hard and learning new things everyday.  

Perseverance...after those few weeks of transition have passed, it is time to get into the thick of things and start grinding it out! Like I mentioned in my previous blogs, there will be difficult times when 3 papers will be due and sleep will be a rare commodity. There will also be times when you have to choose between social events and staying home to write the next big paper. It all comes down to time management. I have talked to some of my cohort members and revisited the ideas of WHY we came to Penn GSE in the first place and what our motivations and aspirations are. I am glad to have those conversations again because it reaffirms all the hard work I have done so far and it encourages me to continue soaking up all of the knowledge and experience here at Penn.

It's a one year program and time will fly by; how you utilize your time here will define your experience here at Penn GSE. My advice?

Come excited with an open mind/heart and a purpose.